Maple Leaf
by Yamadori
Summary: Blue Dragon Anime. A new ally that has returned from someone’s past, and a dear friend that is in grave danger... But the Shu-tachi’s goal remains clear - gain their power ups to stop Nene and any other evil that appears.
1. Atarashii Michi

**Yes, you clicked right - the **_**Maple**_** series is here. ;D It took me a long time (at least, since the time I'd said I was going to do it), but I finally got it up. As always, several things have happened since the last time I updated... But I'm in a good mood, so I'll skip it. :P Instead, I'll reply to the reviews of the last chapter of **_**The Final Warrior of Light**_**:**

**WindGoddess Rune:** I'm sorry it took so long... But here it is. :) It's going to be a good while before Zola returns... But she'll definitely be back. ;)

**Growlmon1:** Ah, I'm glad. :D I know; I felt so bad for her. :( Well, I've softened up towards Nene after playing Blue Dragon Plus... But I'm still kind of angry with him concerning Zola in chapter four of _The Final Warrior of Light_. XP Aw, thanks. :) And I have to thank you again, actually - you really helped me to get this uploaded, too. :)

**YuukixZero16-in-yellow:** Thank you! :D I know; Kaede has always been a favorite character of mine, which was what spurred me to write _Maple Leaf_ (and its sequel) in the first place. And Kluke is always so cool. XD Thanks again. :)

**Prince of Tennis' Shaman:** Ah... I actually ended up on the edge of my seat a few times, and I was writing it. ;D Ah, I'm glad I could help. :D I think I would've, too. XD Well, this one was only over two weeks late this time. XP Ugh... I have to find a way to get past these blocks... Ah, that's true, though... Yes, they definitely are. :D Yes. Oh. *sweatdrops* I always love long chapters, whether reading or writing. ;) (_Yes, Jiro, you don't need to say that. :P Though I can't dance, either... On second thought, I just don't know. *sweatdrops again*_) Ah, that's what I was hoping for. :) I had worried that some people might find her "pyon-ing" annoying - if you're in the mind set that everyone's speaking Japanese, she does it even more - but fortunately, that doesn't seem to be the case. Oh... Thank you! :D I know... Yes, she's just so great. :D Yeah, they are. XD (_Game Jiro: Great... No one here can use a proper description... The world's coming to an end._) (_Ah, you're just more of a stickler for grammar than I am... Which says a lot. ;)_) Oh... I realize now that your review cut off here, but I got your PM. :)

**Ultimashadow:** Thanks! XD Oh, she definitely is now. ;) (_Hello, Kyo. Thank you for stopping by. But Ultimashadow is right, you need to get back to your stories._) Emotionless... Hrm... If that's your impression of her after the last chapter, then I guess I must've failed with the final paragraphs. :/ Still, you said missing her, so... *shrugs* Sorry it took so long, but here it is. :)

**Review replies done! :D Okay, a few important things I need to mention before we start the chapter... First of all, only including the actual written story and not the notes, each chapter of **_**Maple Leaf**_** will be around 6,000 words. I'm basing this on the first chapter of my story **_**Clover Bunch**_** (still needs editing, but will be uploaded eventually); the reason for this is that the first chapter of that story is basically an adaption of the anime's episode six with several key things changed. Since **_**Maple Leaf**_** is supposed to be as close to an episode of the anime as possible, it needs to be as long as an episode. Another thing is that... Well, this chapter didn't turn out quite like I planned. I don't know how good it is... That's really for you to decide. Keep in mind that I was exhausted when I wrote some of it, so if it didn't turn out that good, it's likely that it can be blamed on that. This next thing is probably the most important, so that's why I'm going to separate it from the other things:**

**IMPORTANT! IF YOU HAVE NOT READ MY STORY **_**THE FINAL WARRIOR OF LIGHT**_**, SEVERAL THINGS WILL LIKELY NOT MAKE SENSE IN THIS ONE. IF YOU'RE GOING TO READ THIS, PLEASE READ **_**THE FINAL WARRIOR OF LIGHT**_** FIRST.**

**And one more thing, though it isn't as important as the other ones - I have a new poll on my profile, and I have a feeling a few of you will think it's worth checking out (if you haven't already). ;) Okay, I think that's all I need to mention. So... Oh, disclaimer:**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Blue Dragon. This is just a fan fiction made by a fan for other fans. Also, in case there is any confusion, Kaede is NOT my character (see all chapters of **_**The Final Warrior of Light**_** for reference).**

**Okay, the only disclaimer for this story is out of the way... So, without further ado, I present to you the 52nd non-crossover story in the Blue Dragon fan fiction archive, and my longest going project, **_**Maple Leaf**_**!**

_She sat on the soft grass, feeling underneath the fingertips of one hand how it had been warmed by the sun; in her other hand was her stuffed dog, a constant companion and loyal friend. She glanced to her left, over at him. "Thank you for bringing me here."_

_He blushed a little. "I don't mind that much. You seemed like you wanted to go more than you usually do, so..."_

_She giggled at the way he had gotten embarrassed, then started eating another berry. She was about to reply, but she saw something over the hills that caught her attention. She stood quickly. "Is that...?"_

_He immediately turned around to see what had startled her so, seeing it right away. "That smoke... It's coming from where the village is!"_

"_Otousan... Okaasan..."_

_He was on his feet in seconds, and then he had turned around and placed his hands on her shoulders. "Go home and stay with Okaasan. I'm going to find out what's happening."_

"_But-"_

"_Don't worry. I'll bring Otousan and meet you there, alright? Just don't leave the house."_

_She looked at him for a moment, then nodded reluctantly. "Okay..."_

"_Good. Be careful." With that, he broke into a run._

"_You be careful, too!" she called after him._

"_I will!"_

_Once the hills had blocked him from her line of sight, she took off towards the village, using the forest path that she knew by heart. That hadn't stopped it from taking longer to run through, though. In her panic, she had taken a wrong turn, and ended up losing time as she made her way back._

_After she'd gotten on the right track, something caught her eye. Her breath caught in her throat when she saw the rest of the village - even from here, she could see the buildings burning._

_She quickly shook her head, remembering that she was supposed to stay inside, and rushed into her home._

_When she entered through the back door, she saw that both her mother and father were already there. Her mother hurried towards her. "Jina-"_

_She didn't get to hear the rest, as something crashed into the house's roof._

_She looked up, seeing that fire was already burning through the wood. It made quick work of it, and the roof started to cave in, about to fall right where she was standing._

"_No!" Both of her parents reached for her, even though they already knew that she was too far away._

_She just looked on in horror as the flame-covered eaves came closer, already feeling the heat from it as it closed in to hit her and-_

She jerked awake, feeling her heart hammering in her ribcage. She hated it when she had that dream.

She sat up, rubbing her face, then threw the covers off herself. The first thing that caught her eye was the black, pants-like leggings. She'd worn them as a young child, but had stopped when she had gotten older. But she'd started wearing them again, after that day...

She closed her eyes, trying desperately to block the memories from her mind.

After she'd sat for a while, trying to calm the storm raging inside of her, she got out of bed - she felt she'd spent too much time in it as it was.

She remembered most of what had happened... Though thinking about Nene and everything that had happened yesterday made her feel sick inside, so she quickly pushed those thoughts to the back of her mind.

As she opened the door of her room, a door on her right opened as well.

Jiro stepped out and immediately saw her.

They stared at each other for a few minutes, stunned.

Finally, Jiro broke the silence, tears starting to spring to his eyes as he spoke. "It... It was real, then? You're really alive?"

She nodded slowly. "And... I guess that means you are, too."

He nodded as well, a little more quickly than she had.

A few more seconds passed, and then they ran and embraced each other in a tight hug.

* * *

**新しい道 (あたらしい みち)/Atarashii Michi (A New Path)**

* * *

He stopped with his hand on the doorknob, after feeling how her hand had tightened around his. "What's wrong, Jina?"

"I told you I wanted to be called Kaede," the annoyance in her voice was clear, but it gave away to worry with her next sentence. "The Warriors of Light... They're in this room, right?"

"Yes, they are." He sighed. "Are you going to keep acting like this?"

"Like what?"

"Like they're your enemies."

"I'm not acting like that. Not anymore, at least." She said the last part not quite under her breath. "But... I'm nervous."

His eyebrows furrowed. "Why?"

"It's just..." She sighed, bothered by the fact that she couldn't articulate how she felt to her own brother. Half a year ago, before the attack, this never would've happened. In fact, sometimes they'd even been able to understand each other's feelings without even speaking. They could just look at each other a certain way, or make gestures with their hands or head, and they would understand. And now... "It's awkward, you know? After everything that happened yesterday, I don't know whether they'll embrace me in hugs or try to kill me."

The eyebrows went up now. "Why would they try and kill you?"

She looked at him incredulously. "I was working with _Nene_. If that doesn't give them a reason to, I don't know what does."

Jiro shook his head. "They're not like that. They... They're good. They don't treat people like that. I haven't been around them long, but I've known them long enough to know that."

It was tiny, but a smile started to grace her lips. "Are you sure?"

He grinned, his first real one in six months. "What, you don't trust your Oniichan anymore?"

"Of course I do." She huffed, in a manner that said he was ridiculous for even thinking such a thing.

"Well, then..." Without waiting for a reply, he opened the door.

They caught the end of Shu's sentence as he said, "... just wish he'd lighten up a little, you know?"

"Wish who would lighten up?" Jiro said dryly, already knowing the answer.

Shu sat up as straight as a board. "No one."

Jiro rolled his eyes, then noticed his little sister trying to hide behind him. "Come on, cut that out. Stop using me to shield yourself."

She looked at him shyly, then moved in a way in which she tried to convey that it was the most painful thing possible, and Jiro had to keep from rolling his eyes again.

"Maro!" Marumaro, who had been stuffing his face only moments before, lit up like a candle after seeing her. "Kaede-chan is awake, maro!"

She bowed a little. "Good morning." Despite her nervousness, she had to admit that it was nice to see him again.

Bouquet stood up from her chair. "You and Jiro take a seat. I'll go get your plates."

Kaede sat in the chair next to her brother, simply because she was too nervous to sit next to anyone else. However, what she didn't know was that she would end up sitting right across from that girl from before...

Kluke smiled brightly at her. "Did you sleep well?"

"U-um... Not really." The dream nudged at her mind, but she pushed it down, refusing to speak of it.

The brightness dropped a notch, but the smile remained sincere. "That's understandable, with everything that happened yesterday. You shouldn't forget about what happened, but you should try not to worry about it right now."

She looked over when Jiro smiled and nodded. He seemed like he was going to say something else, but Bouquet had brought their food right at that moment.

Kaede was quiet throughout the meal, but everyone noticed that Jiro was talking more than usual. That wasn't saying much, but... He seemed more lively, more animated. He even got close to smiling a few times, which was something that Shu teased him about each one of those times (which had only resulted in a broken plate and spilled juice).

After he'd finished eating, Jiro leaned back in his chair. "If everyone's done, then we should clear all of this away and talk about what we're going to do next."

Marumaro sighed, laying his chin on the table. "Can't we rest a little more first, maro?"

"We'll have time to rest later." Jiro crossed his arms over his chest.

"We should take a look inside of the bag Nene threw at me," Kaede's tone was soft and quiet. "It might give us a clue."

"That's a good idea, Kaede." He tried to hide it, but he felt a smile threatening again.

Bouquet got up from her seat. "Anyone want to help me take away these dishes?" Her eyes immediately shot to Shu.

While he didn't notice this, Kluke did; she raised her hand. "I'll help you, Bouquet."

The two girls started grabbing plates, smiling at each other but glaring with their eyes.

Once they'd gone, Jiro sighed. "I can't believe they're going to fight at a time like this..."

Marumaro snorted. "Jiro, you're not really one to talk, maro."

Kaede blinked, looking between the Devee and her brother. "What do you mean?"

"He doesn't mean anything." Jiro snapped, his face flushed. When Marumaro and Shu snickered, he yelled at them, "Both of you shut up!"

As Marumaro and Shu laughed (making Jiro sputter), Kaede reached into her tunic's pocket and pulled out the bag. She hadn't opened it yet; she wanted to be with her brother when she found out what was inside.

She turned it over in her hand. It was a simple, red cloth pouch - nothing out of the ordinary. But she knew that there was a deeper secret inside of it.

Kaede was startled out of her almost cryptic thoughts when she heard something shatter, followed by loud yelling that sounded an awful lot like Kluke and Bouquet.

"Oh..." Jiro dropped his head into his hands. "The owners of the inn are just going to _love_ us..."

Shu glared at him, his voice acidic as he said, "Well, maybe if _someone_ hadn't thrown a plate at _someone else_, we could pass off what just happened as an accident."

"Well, maybe _someone_ shouldn't instigate _someone else_." Jiro matched his tone, glaring right back.

"Maybe _someone_ shouldn't be so stuck up all the time, since it's always bugging _someone else_!"

"Can I ask you guys a question, maro?" Marumaro raised his hand.

"What?" Shu and Jiro snapped simultaneously.

"Which one of you is 'someone', and which one of you is 'someone else', maro?"

Shu gaped at him and Jiro dropped his head into his hands again.

Kaede found that her dour mood had instantly vanished, and she dissolved into giggles, trying very hard not to fall out of her chair and roll on the floor laughing. "I'm... I'm sorry, but... It's just so... so funny..."

Jiro flushed; he'd forgotten what it felt like when his sister made light of the situations he ended up in. "Yeah. Sure. Glad you're enjoying yourself."

She was about to respond, but that was when Kluke and Bouquet walked back into the room. They were staring each other down sharply as they walked, and didn't even take their eyes away when they sat down.

Jiro gripped the edge of the table, wholeheartedly wishing that Zola was still here, not least of all so she could deal with this, and also wondering why he was being pushed into the role of looking out for everyone. "Okay, you two are stopping this right now. We don't have time for this. After we've checked what's inside of the bag and figured out what we do next, you can hit each other over the head with cooking utensils for all I care."

Actually, he found himself caring a bit about Kluke getting hit with something. But there was no way he'd say that out loud.

Kluke sighed and looked away from Bouquet, who huffed and crossed her arms over her chest.

Jiro nodded at his sister. "Go ahead and open it, Kaede."

She swallowed, suddenly finding her mouth and throat to be dry, setting the bag on the table. She pulled open the strings and looked inside. She gasped suddenly, looking very stunned.

"What is it?" Jiro grabbed her shoulder, worry putting an edge in his voice. "What's inside?"

Instead of answering, she reached in and pulled out what was inside - a piece of stone. Jiro's eyes widened when he saw it and stifled a gasp of his own - the others couldn't see what they could, were only able to see that it was very old.

When Kaede and Jiro continued to do nothing but stare at it, Marumaro started fidgeting impatiently. "What is it, maro? The rest of us want to know what's on it, too, maro."

Kaede blinked up at him, like she'd just woken up from a dream. Still not saying anything, she turned it around so they could see.

"No way!" Shu couldn't help it - that was the first thing that came to mind.

It looked like a small mural, though it seemed more likely to be a representation of a bigger one. On it was a picture of a very familiar white and dark gray creature.

It was a picture of Panda in a non-Shadow form.

* * *

As he walked into the room, a soldier near the door said, "Test 124 has been initiated, Nene-sama."

He didn't stop, didn't even give the soldier so much as a nod, continuing to cross the room.

"Energy level is at 75% and rising." Another soldier was bent over a console, occasionally typing in commands.

The one from before came to stand behind him. "The excavation's power has been increasing since the test was started. It's been estimated to be going up 10% every 7.5 minutes."

He pressed his hand against the glass that looked into the next room, the bright lights coming from it illuminating his face. "Excellent," his smirk broadened. "With the power from this and the secrets held within the Extra Seven, this world will be mine."

Deathroy waved his arms. "Mine! Mine!"

* * *

Zola sighed, leaning back against the cell wall; she didn't know how long she'd been in here, but it felt like it was well beyond hours. Many long, agonizing hours.

"_Jiro..._" She'd been thinking about him almost constantly. The last time she'd seen him, he'd been injured more badly than she'd seen him in a long time. And... it was because of her.

She shut her eyes tightly. Though she'd never said it in so many words, soon after she'd met Jiro, she'd promised both him and herself that she wouldn't let anything else happen to him. Now she'd gone and been the one to cause something, breaking that promise and worse, hurting him. It was true, Nene had been controlling her... But that wasn't making her feel any less guilty.

She felt helpless in this cell. Was he okay? Was he safe? To both of those questions, she didn't know what she'd do if he wasn't.

Rather suddenly, she was reminded of that moment when she'd come out of Nene's control momentarily, when she'd stared into Shu's face. She remembered what she'd seen in his eyes: a hint of despair and great sadness.

Shu... He trusted her so much, maybe even more than Jiro did (which was saying a lot). She'd been surprised by how much - while no one else noticed this at all, especially not himself, she'd noticed his adoration switching from Knight Masters to her. It had come as a surprise... but not an unpleasant one. And now that person he looked up to so much had attacked him...

She banged the back of her head against the wall. She had to get out of here somehow - even if the kids didn't forgive her, they at least deserved an apology.

She nearly jumped when the door opened. The soldier that stood in the now-open doorway pointed at her. "You're coming with me to see Nene-sama." He jerked his thumb in the direction of outside.

For a second, she looked him up and down, wondering if she could attack him and escape. But she soon reminded herself that she was staying here for the sake of the others. She stood and followed him.

He led her down a few corridors, and then stopped in front of a metallic door; he knocked on it with the back of his hand. It slid open, and Zola jerked back involuntarily when she saw Nene right in front of her.

This didn't go unnoticed by him; in fact, he seemed to be amused by it. "It's nice to see you, too, Zola. I'm glad you could join me."

"Join me! Join me!"

"If you want to call it that." She wasn't exactly afraid whenever she talked with Nene, mostly because she knew what she was dealing with. But seeing him so close had unnerved her, and there was a slight tremor in her voice.

He noticed this as well, but didn't say anything about it this time. Instead, he turned around, saying, "There's something over here that I think you will find very interesting."

"Interesting! Interesting!"

When the soldier nudged her forward, she followed him inside. She'd taken only a few steps before he moved out of the way to clear her view. Her eyes widened as she saw what was inside of the next room through the glass that provided a view of it. The lights coming from it danced across her face. "What... What is this?..."

"A secret that's been hidden for a very long time," he turned back to look at her. "But now it's time to discover the power that it holds."

"The power! The power!"

She took an unconscious step backwards. "_This thing... I still don't know what it is completely, but I have to find a way to stop Nene from using it._"

* * *

_**End of Part One**_

_***eyecatch of Zola and Killer Bat***_

_**Beginning of Part Two**_

* * *

Kaede set the stone down on the table, picture side up. "What does it mean, though...?"

Kluke leaned forward a little. "Maybe that's just how people in the old times interpreted Shadows."

"But why would they draw feet on it?" Shu shook his head. "Something's up with that thing. Did anyone else feel anything when they first saw it?"

"I did." This was a bit of an understatement - when Jiro had laid eyes on it, he'd felt goosebumps all over his arms, and - he didn't really know a better way to describe this part of it - the thing made him feel weird. The feeling paralleled how one would feel when they summoned a Shadow, but it was... different. Very different.

When everyone had nodded in confirmation of Shu's question, Kaede spoke up. "Why did Nene want me to have it, though? What does it mean?"

"I think..." Jiro laid his hand on it. "I think this has something to do with the Extra Seven."

"Maro?" Marumaro tilted his head to the side. "Jiro, what are you talking about, maro?"

"Call it a hunch if you want, but... I don't know if I've ever been more sure of something in my life. This is related to the Extra Seven."

"Maybe there's something written about it in the Extra Seven," Bouquet said. "Or there might be a clue that'll help us figure out what it means."

Shu grinned. "Good thinking, Bouquet."

Kluke grumbled something unintelligible under her breath.

"What's wrong with you now, maro?" Marumaro tried to peer at her face, unable to see her expression since her head was bent.

She lifted her gaze, but looked away from him. "Nothing."

Jiro sighed. If everyone was going to act like this, why couldn't he go and read? It wouldn't be that long... He quickly shook his head. "_What are you thinking? Kaede coming back has made you unmindful._" After the short inner reprimanding, he said, "We're getting off track. Since the two are related, it seems that the next thing we should do is retrieve the Extra Seven from General Rogi's ship."

"Wait a minute!" Shu shouted at him, suddenly starting to feel angry. "What about Zola?"

Jiro closed his eyes, preparing for the reaction. "We're not going after Zola."

"What did you say?"

Jiro looked at him through narrow eyes. "We. Are. Not. Going. After. Zola." He said each word slowly, deliberately.

"Why not?"

The next words were opposite of his previous ones in their tone, being delivered quickly, without missing a beat. "Because if you'd taken a moment to think it through, you'd know that we have no chance of defeating Nene the way we are. We need the Extra Seven to become stronger anyway, so it makes the most sense that retrieving it is what we do next, especially since that was our original strategy before all of this happened."

Shu grit his teeth. "I can't believe you! Who knows what Nene is going to do to her? You've known Zola longer than any of us, yet you're going to leave her when she needs us most..."

"Listen, the last thing that Zola would want is for us to go into a battle we aren't prepared for. What good are we to her if Nene defeats us? No; the best thing for us to do is continue with our original strategy. Whatever Nene is planning, he won't do it right away. Besides, Zola is more than capable of taking care of herself, especially now that she knows what kind of attack to expect. She'll be able to hang on until we can come and rescue her."

Shu stood up, staring at Jiro hard. "How could you? After everything you've been through with her, you're just going to abandon her-"

"You think I don't care?" Jiro snapped at him sharply and stood fast enough to knock over his chair, his voice having been sharp enough to make Shu move backwards. His next words were quieter, but the anger was much more pronounced. "While you and I bicker about this, it's just more wasted time, and that's time Zola doesn't have to spare. If _you_ really wanted to help her, then you'd hold your tongue for five seconds so we could do what has to be done. But instead, you continue to act like a little _child_, like you have since I first met you. I don't care if you are a Warrior of Light, and how important that makes it for you to be coming on this journey - since I've known her, the only mistake Zola ever made was bringing you along."

After the words were out, Jiro fell back into his chair. He felt... he felt... he felt so _drained_. Had he really just said all of that?

Shu stared at him for a few moments, his expression like he'd just been slapped in the face (which, though it had been verbal, wasn't that far off). Then he took one step backwards... then another... And then he had run out of the room before anyone could stop him.

Kluke, who had been running through her mind a strategy of damage control since Jiro knocked his chair to the ground, got out of her own chair now. "I'll go talk to him."

"Oniichan..." Kaede watched her brother, upset and confused. She'd never seen him like this before... Was he like this all the time now? Was this what Nene had done to her sweet big brother?

He sighed, pressing his hands against his forehead, his elbows on the table. He wanted to tell her something... Maybe that he was fine, but he knew that he wasn't. Maybe that it would be okay, but for that one, he honestly didn't know.

* * *

From the windowsill, he could see people running around in the town's streets, hurrying to finish lunch and get ready to go back to their daily work. It was so normal...

He winced as Jiro's words echoed in his head:

"_If _you_ really wanted to help her, then you'd hold your tongue for five seconds..."_ _"...the only mistake Zola ever made was bringing you along..."_

He closed his eyes. Was Jiro right? Because of the way he acted, would Zola suffer because of him?

He spun around as the door closed behind him. Kluke was leaning against the now-closed door, smiling sheepishly. "Sorry. I tried knocking, but... I guess you were deep in thought or something." She giggled. "That's a change, isn't it?"

Instead of getting angry or laughing along with her, like she'd hoped, Shu looked away.

When he didn't say or do anything else, Kluke walked towards him until she was at his side. "Shu... I don't think that Jiro really meant what he said..."

He shook his head. "It doesn't matter if he did. He was right."

She narrowed her eyes slightly. "No, Shu-"

"He's right..." He repeated, looking down even further, his hair shielding his eyes from her view. "This whole journey, I've acted like a brat-"

"Shu, that isn't true-"

"-and even now, when Zola is in danger, I'm still acting like that. And... Something that Jiro said to me soon after we met was true - I'm dragging us down. Even if you hadn't gotten Phoenix, you'd still be more useful than I am."

Kluke's frown deepened as she racked her brain. She didn't want to say the wrong thing - she knew from past experience that once Shu started belittling himself, it was very hard to get him to stop. It had been unexpected, though; he hadn't done it in this exact way for a long while.

She swallowed, blushing slightly for a second, then placed her hand on his shoulder. His head shot up, looking slightly stunned.

She started. "Shu, we all make mistakes. None of us are perfect. But... We learn from those mistakes, and do better next time. That's part of growing up. And you still have a lot of growing to do. All of us do, me and Jiro included. So... What I'm really trying to say is that since you still need to grow more, you can't expect so much from yourself, and no one else should either."

His face softened a little. "I... I guess you're right."

"Of course I am." She winked to let him know she was joking.

This finally managed to coax a small smile out of him, even though he didn't say anything.

"Hey," she patted him on the arm good-naturedly. "We're going to get a lot more powerful before we go face Nene, right? Just think about how proud Zola is going to be when you come and rescue her!" She knew that Shu wouldn't be doing it by himself, but for the sake of cheering him up, it seemed better to put it that way.

She could see that her words had started working right away - Shu had already begun to roll the sentences around in his mind, his grin becoming wider as he did so.

Eventually, he nodded to himself. "Yeah... I just need a little more power, and then I'll get Zola out of there." He raised his fist in front of him, determination blazing in his eyes. "I'll show Jiro how much I can do!"

Kluke smiled at him fondly. Shu could be so rash sometimes... But she supposed that was what she liked about him.

* * *

As they walked back into the room, they heard Bouquet finish yelling, "... didn't have to be like that!"

Marumaro perked up when he saw them walk in. "Shu and Kluke are back, maro!"

Jiro glanced at them immediately, looking at Shu a little... worriedly? He glanced at Kaede when she nudged him on the arm, and he nodded. He stood and walked towards Shu.

In Jiro's mind, half of him screamed: _What the heck are you doing? It's Shu, for goodness' sakes!_ But the other half reason, much more calmly: _You're doing the right thing. It's time for you to start acting like yourself again._

Jiro took a deep breath. "Shu-"

"Forget it." He waved his hand dismissively. "I was right about a few things, but you were, too. So, let's just forget about it... and do what has to be done, right?" Shu winked after he'd echoed Jiro's previous statement.

Jiro scowled at him as he opened his mouth to start another one of their fights... But even as he yelled at him, and Shu yelled back, that little voice in the back of his mind, that other half said, _See? I told you that you did the right thing..._

* * *

After Kluke had broken up the fight - threatening to hit Shu with her frying pan always seemed to do the trick - and they'd talked some more about the plan, Jiro had gone downstairs to let the innkeepers know that they would be leaving.

Kluke sat at the table, writing a list; before they left town, it would be good to buy some supplies, and she wanted to know what they would be getting ahead of time.

When she felt a tap, she looked over her shoulder, and saw Jiro's little sister looking at her shyly. "What are you doing?"

Kluke smiled. "I'm making a shopping list. Is there anything that you need from the store?"

She shook her head. Blushing, she opened her mouth to speak, but was cut off as-

"AH!" Bouquet ran in from the next room, Marumaro chasing after her with a familiar smirk on his face.

Kluke stood, waited until they were close enough, then tripped Marumaro as he passed by.

He sat up, rubbing his face. "Maro..." When he'd taken his hand away, he looked up just in time to see Kluke's fist coming towards him.

Kluke stood akimbo, grumbling under her breath, glaring at the now half-conscious Devee.

Bouquet peered at her from her cover behind a potted plant. "Thank you, Kluke."

"You're welcome." She looked at her list, then shook her head; it would have to do.

Kaede tilted her head. "Why were you running from him, though?"

Kluke raised an eyebrow. "You mean you don't know? Marumaro's never tried anything with you?"

"What are you talking about?"

She sighed, shaking her head. "Don't worry... You'll find out eventually."

The door leading to the hallway opened, and Jiro stepped out. "I let them know we're leaving. Is everyone ready to go?"

"Pretty much..." Kluke looked around the room. "Hang on a second; I'll go get Shu."

As soon as she started walking towards their room, Kaede crossed the room speedily, not stopping until she was at her brother's side.

Jiro shook his head at her. "I should say something, but we'll talk later."

She nodded, taking his hand. He rolled his eyes, wondering absentmindedly how many times he could do that before it started to make an impact on his vision.

When Kluke returned with Shu, and then kicked Marumaro awake, Jiro nodded universally to everyone. "Okay, we're all here, so let's go over our next moves once more. Like Kaede suggested after me and Shu discussed-"

Shu snorted. "Argued."

"-with each other," Jiro narrowed his eyes momentarily, but let it go and got back to the subject on hand. "We're going to travel to the nearest Grand Kingdom outpost and find a Mechat. While we're there, we'll go through some of their data to find out where General Rogi's ship is currently located. Using the Mechat, we'll travel to said location and board his ship so we can take back the Extra Seven. Any questions or objections?"

After everyone shook their head, Jiro nodded and said, "Alright. Let's move out."

Everyone took their bags, slinging it over their shoulders and such. Except for one.

They all stared at Zola's bag for several moments, unsure of what to do.

Breaking the silence for the second time that day, Jiro said, "I'll take it." His voice sounded strained.

Kluke reached towards him. "Jiro-"

Before she could say anything else, he swung the bag over his shoulders. "It's fine." He didn't look at her, though, anyone or anything else but the floor.

"_Zola..._" Jiro took a deep breath. Now wasn't the time to act this way. He had to be strong. He lifted his gaze and echoed what he'd said only moments before, "Let's go, guys."

* * *

**_End of Part Two_**

**_*eyecatch of Jiro and Minotauros*_**

* * *

_**Chapter Preview**_

*cue scenes from next chapter in background*

Narrator: The Shu-tachi infiltrate the Grand Kingdom outpost to acquire a mechat and discover the whereabouts of General Rogi's ship. They seem to be successful, but they may find more trouble than they bargained for.

Shu: I don't understand the information in this computer...

Kaede: I know a little bit, since I was part of Grand Kingdom, but I still don't know how the computer works.

Marumaro: I'm still confused, maro.

Bouquet: I am, too.

Jiro: Does anyone know how to use this thing?

Kluke: I do. What's wrong with all of you?

Shu, Jiro, Marumaro, Bouquet and Kaede: The technology is too complicated!

Narrator: Next chapter of Blue Dragon: Maple Leaf - Journey's Start.

* * *

**Phew, it's finally done! :D Took me long enough. XP I know it probably wasn't what was expected... But after the quick pace of the last chapter of **_**The Final Warrior of Light**_**, a more slow paced chapter was needed (I think the Shu-tachi would agree with me). So... Please review if you get the chance. :) I appreciate it, but it's fine if you can't. I'm scrambling to update other stories, so it's going to be slow, but I **_**will**_** try and update after 10 hits. It's going to be slow anyway, since **_**Maple Leaf**_** requires long chapters, so it takes longer to write. But... I'll try to see you soon! :D**


	2. Tabi no Kaishi

**After four months, it's finally here - the second installment of **_**Maple Leaf**_**! :D I feel bad that it took me so long... Especially since this is supposed to be my main story aside from **_**Blue Dragon Beyond**_**. XP Anyway, I'm not feeling so good at the moment, so I'm just going to cut to the review replies.**

**Growlmon1:** Thanks; glad you like it. :D Ah... I would tell you, but that would spoil a big chunk of the story if I did. ;) Yeah, I guess it probably is... Normally I wouldn't spoil things, but I think I'll reveal this little thing: Unfortunately, there's a worse fight coming, though it won't be until towards the end of _Maple Leaf_. Yes, though it's also just because she's gone in general; it's put everyone on edge a little, but especially Shu and Jiro. Me, too - it might be a while, but I'm looking forward to Zola coming back as well. :)

**Prince of Tennis' Shaman:** An!! (_Game Jiro: Wow, look at Yamadori panic._) (_Jiro!_) Ah... If you're recovered... *relieved sigh* (_For the record, Jiro, I wasn't deafened. :P_) (_Game Jiro: W-well... I... Ack! *walks away*_) Yeah... I seem to be doing longer chapters in general lately, but _Maple Leaf_ is actually supposed to have them. I, um, might have made _this_ chapter a little too long, though... *sweatdrops* A-ah, no, please don't faint... I'm glad. :) (Not necessarily - "nya" is fun to use. XD) An!! (_Jiro! NOT helping!!_) (_Game Jiro: Ow, not my ear!_) B-but it seems like you're okay, so... *relieved sigh (again)* Thank you. :D There's several more just ahead, though they're not exactly what I thought they would be... I actually have a lot of doubts about this chapter, but I _am_ happy about a Jiro/Jina scene towards the end. :) (_Kaede: *mumbling*_) (_Oh. Right. Sorry. Jiro/Kaede. Sorry._) Well, I don't think she would- (_Kaede: _Kill_ you? Of course I'm not going to _kill _you! Why would I _kill_ you? *takes deep breath* No, I won't kill you. Just... Try to keep to Kaede if at all possible._) Ah... I think she put it in better words than I would've. :P Thank you; that's good news. :D I just hope that stays true for this chapter... Because I don't know if it did... (_It made perfect sense to me, Jiro. :P_) (_Game Jiro: *lidded eyes* That's because _you_ don't make sense._) Really? Me too! We think alike so much sometimes... *sweatdrops* Ooh, I'd love to see that in _Holding On._ :D Yes. *nods sadly* (_Kaede: Thanks. I appreciate it. But, I do promise that I won't kill you._) Same here. :) I don't want to spoil too much, but... there will be tons of stuff involving Kluke and Kaede throughout the story, definitely branching off into _Maple Sky_. *blushes* Thank you... Thank you... And thank you. :D Sorry for the terribly long wait, but the new chapter is finally here. :) ... Oh, SHOOT. Ah, An, I'm _so_ sorry!! I forgot that I was supposed to be sending you those excerpts... I'm so sorry... But, my DS is shot right now - the screen keeps flickering, so I haven't been able to play Plus for a long time. For some strange reason, it doesn't flicker with Game Boy Advance Games... But, I forgot a lot of stuff that happened, so I don't know if I can really send anymore excerpts right now. I did get all of the data I needed for the prologue of the adaptation, so I should be able to finish it... after some major, major editing... That hasn't been going well at all. I'm still going to try, though. As soon as my DS is either fixed, or if I get a new one (feel free to cue laughter at this point), I'll be able to collect information for the first chapter. Until then, I'll try to work on the prologue.

**Ultimashadow:** Thanks! :D Yeah, it seems that way... I think so, too. :) (_Jiro: Thanks, I-_) (_Shu: HEY! Who said the _you_ get to be leader?!_) (_... *scoots away nervously*_) (_Jiro: Well, it's not like you're going to lead us!_) (_Shu: What?! I'd be _way_ better at being leader than you!_) *fighting in the background* Ah, that's not good... Anyway... ;) Thanks! :D Like I mentioned to Prince of Tennis' Shaman, I'd been worried that people would think her "pyon-ing" was annoying, but it seems like I've once again worried in vain. :) Sorry for the wait, but it's here at last. :D

**WindGoddess Rune:** Well, I wouldn't say it scared Zola. Startled, yes. But not scared. As for what it is... That's a big chunk of the story, and it's too soon for me to give it away. ;) It'll be revealed eventually, though.

**YuukixZero16-in-yellow:** Thank you; glad to hear it! :D I'm sorry it took so long, but the requested update has finally been fulfilled. :)

**Rosella95:** Thank you! :D *blushes* *takes deep breath* Thank you... Thank you... Thank you... Thank you... Thank you... And thank you. Oh... dear... *sweatdrops* XD XD XD (_Well, Jiro, dear... Just treat this as a life lesson._) (_Jiro: That's... Not really helping me right now..._) Thanks; I'm happy to hear it! :D I am, too... *sigh* The kiddies... Ooh, I like that; it has a certain ring to it. :P (_Jiro: No. No. Please, no._) Yes. *nods* :) I often feel bad for Jiro, but I did especially in both the first second and chapters. (_Jiro: Hey, if Yamadori keeps this up, it may not be the last time either. *glances at script* *shudders* What did I do to deserve this...?_) (_*pulls out another page of script* There's still this, though._) (_Jiro: True... Very true... Silver lining, I suppose. *looks away blushing*_) Thank you; that was a scene I really wanted to emphasize, so I'm glad that you noticed and liked it. :) (Thanks! XD) I'm sorry to keep you waiting, but it's finally here! :D Thank you - I'll try to do my best! :)

**And the long-delayed review replies are done! Wow... It's been so long since I updated this, I don't even know what to say. :P There are a couple of notes I need to bring up, though, so I guess this is a good time to do that. With that, here they are:**

_**Kaede's Appearance:**_ **Kaede doesn't actually look much different from the time Jiro last saw her in Mafe, which for us watchers would be Episode 31, but there are a few things I should probably clarify. She's wearing the bigger tunic/skirt/sweater like she did in Episode 31, but she's wearing black pants/leggings like she did when she was a young child (see Episode 13 for reference) - the only difference is that they're darker than her original leggings, closer to the color of Jiro's but still lighter. Also, her bag is very similar to the one she had when she was little, except it's fairly larger. And the last thing is that she's a couple of centimeters taller than she was in Episode 31.**

_**Shadow Attacks:**_** Though everyone's probably noticed by now, I'm writing this for the Japanese version (as I always will for the Blue Dragon Anime). As such, there may end up being some confusion about which attacks are which. To hopefully clear things up, I'm going to make a quick chart of the current groups attacks. **

Shu: Rusty Nail, Fire Crisis

Jiro: Dotou, Seiha, Mijin (see below about this one)

Kluke: Protect Feather, Eternal Breath, Dance in the Dark, Teleportation (not officially named)

Marumaro: Blitz Claw, Fire Ball

Bouquet: Transformation (not officially named)

Kaede: Fire Attack (not officially named), Healing Skill (not officially named)

**To save space, I won't be adding descriptions, but if you'd like to know more about any of the attacks, just ask me. Oh, about Jiro and Minotauros' Mijin - I found out that this was one of Jiro's attacks, but I can't remember him ever using it (probably because my memory is so horrible). If someone happens to remember what it is, please let me know. Also, about the attacks marked "not officially named" - Kluke and Phoenix's Teleportation and Bouquet and Hippo-chan's Transformation probably won't be given names, but Kaede and Panda's skills will definitely be given names. Because Kaede has only used her Shadow once, there hasn't been much of an opportunity to come up with a name. But it **_**will**_** be coming soon. ;)**

_**Eyecatches:**_** The eyecatches remain the same as they did for the regular season one, with the exception that there are now two additional eyecatches of Kaede and Panda. The second eyecatch of Kaede and Panda won't appear until the final set of eyecatches do, which I believe was around the time of Episode 39 or so, but the first one will be cycled through with the other ones. There's nothing I can really do to describe the eyecatches, so you'll have to use your imagination a little. Just keep in mind that most of her poses are similar or identical to the Game Jiro's, with the addition of her own unique mix, and you'll likely come up with better eyecatches than I did. ;)**

_**Kaede's Shadow Summoning Sequence:**_ **Even more so than with the eyecatches, there's little I can do to describe this, but I will try. (Keep in mind that Kaede's "signature color", so to speak, is a kind of light gray/white, so that's going to be all over the place while she's summoning her Shadow.) It starts out with Kaede folding her arms like Jiro does in the game when he's charging a spell, than lifting them up a little similar to Marumaro (in the anime). Panda comes out a little similar to how Hippo-chan does - she always "pyon-s" at the very moment she comes out - and then the picture would pull back, with both Shadow and User having their arms folded. ... Ugh, I think that's the worst description I've **_**ever**_** done. Feel free to come up with a better Shadow Sequence if you like, or try to better illustrate this one.**

**Okay, those are the notes I needed to leave. There's also one more important thing I need to mention: My profile is getting a little too big, so my next focus is going to be on trying to finish the prologues or first chapters of some of the planned stories on my profile (once they're uploaded, I'll remove the descriptions, so that equals more space). After one or two (or a couple) of the fan fictions from the planned stories list have been uploaded, I'll be resuming the poll updating style. Speaking of that, I'm aware now of the problem, but I know how to fix it, so it should be working properly when I put the poll back on my profile. All of that aside, though... I'm... not actually very happy with how this chapter turned out, but I'll let you guys decide on the overall quality. I don't think there's anything else I really need to mention... And besides, I think you guys have waited long enough for this chapter. ;) Read on! :D**

Jiro woke up to sunlight stabbing at his eyelids, blindingly bright; he closed his eyes tightly before they were barely even open.

Waking up further, he could hear voices. "He's never slept this long before..." That one sounded distinctly like Shu.

"Well, he's been through a lot lately," Kluke, probably talking to Shu. "He's owed some extra rest."

And then he realized what his rival had said. _I... overslept...?_ He forced his eyes open, squinting them against the light, and pushed himself up.

"Well, he's awake now." Bouquet said dryly.

"Shut up." Jiro responded groggily, his eyes closed again, obviously still half-asleep. He heard them resume their talking, but he was too tired to bother to make it out. He yawned and stretched. "So, where are we going next, Zola?..."

Everything went deadly silent. After a few more minutes passed without response, he opened his eyes. He immediately saw Shu and Kluke near him, looking at him with something akin to pity. Just beyond them stood Marumaro, next to someone sleeping... His sister. Jina. Kaede.

And then he remembered everything.

He closed his eyes again, but he was wide awake this time. He breathed deeply for a few moments. He opened his eyes, then stood, shaky on his feet. He forced his feet to move forward, stumbling on nothing. (Shu, watching him, thought of how graceful and balanced Jiro usually was, and despite whatever animosity was usually involved with the two of them, felt his heart sink.) "I'll..." Jiro started, swallowing through a sudden thickness in his throat. "I'll go check the map."

* * *

**旅の開始 (たび の かいし)/Tabi no Kaishi (Journey's Start)**

* * *

While Bouquet cooked breakfast - which seemed might it like take a while, since she was making a bigger meal to compensate for all of the energy they would be using up today - everyone else sat in a relative circle around a rock where the map had been laid.

"So, the outpost is here," Jiro put his finger down. "And we're over here." He moved it diagonally to a spot not that far away. "We made some good distance yesterday, so we should be able to reach the outpost pretty soon, probably sometime later today. Once there, we'll scope out the area, then infiltrate the base. We'll have to plan out a battle strategy as well; we're trying to sneak in, but that doesn't mean something couldn't go wrong, so we need to be prepared in case of that." After a few nods and affirmative noises, Jiro continued. "We're going to get the information from the database first, because once we have the mechat, we'll be using it to get out of there. Besides, the database can probably tell us the exact location of the mechats, so we won't have to search for it." He looked up from the map. "Everyone understands this so far?" After that was confirmed, he said, "Alright, then - let's focus on the battle strategy for a little while..."

About thirty minutes later, they were a little more than halfway through with the planning. There was, however, a topic that had yet to be broached...

Kluke decided that she would be the one to bring up that said topic. "Um, Jiro..."

"Yes?" He didn't look up as he drew their positions on a sheet of paper, seeming quite involved with what he was doing, yet at the same time aware of everything around him.

"Well, it's just..." She bit her lip. "It's about Kaede..."

"What about her?" There was an edge in Jiro's voice that hadn't been there before, almost as if he knew exactly what she wanted to tell him. She could see that he'd tensed up as well.

Suppressing a groan, Shu took over. "You haven't mentioned Kaede in the battle strategy yet."

"Of course I haven't," Jiro spoke matter-of-factly. "She has no part in it, because she's not going to be fighting."

Kaede's features were a mix of stun and horror. "B-b-but-"

"You can't _do_ that, maro!" Marumaro shouted at him in indignation. "Kaede-chan is a Shadow User, too, maro!"

Jiro looked up, his gaze as sharp as a knife. "I know she is." was all he said. In his mind, he added, _That doesn't make me want her to be one._

"Oniichan," she held a half-fisted hand over her chest. "I can help, too. I know that I just got my powers recently, but I promise I won't hold anyone back-"

"It has nothing to do with that." He looked down again.

Shu leaned forward. "Then what _does_ it have to do with?"

"It's none of your business." He erased a line on the paper, then drew one that didn't look much different; his hand movements were rushed and angry.

Shu ground his teeth. "You-"

Kaede stood abruptly; she trembled slightly, but her expression was blank.

Marumaro reached towards her. "Kaede-"

"I'm going to go get ready for when we set out." She took a few steps away from them, then stopped, her head turned to the side so she could see them from the corner of her eye. "I have no part in this," Jiro winced as she threw his words back at him, and also from the bitterness evident in her voice, "so there's no point in me listening in, is there?" Without waiting for a reply, she continued towards her sleeping bag.

Jiro watched her go, thought of his fight with Shu back at the inn, and thought, _I seem to be chasing people away from me an awful lot recently._

"Kaede!" Kluke called after her, hand outstretched, but the young girl didn't turn around, or make any indication that she had heard.

Marumaro stood up angrily. "You didn't have to be like that, maro!" He pointed at Jiro. "You've been acting even worse than usual, maro! What's your problem, maro?!"

"Nothing!" Jiro snapped at him. "Besides, this doesn't have anything to do with you, so why don't you stay out of it?" He really wished Marumaro wouldn't push this.

"I'll stay out of it when you treat Kaede-chan fairly, maro!" With that, he stomped off in the direction Kaede had gone.

Jiro sighed and pinched between his eyebrows, feeling like his head might very well explode. _It's too early for this..._ But, even as he thought it, he knew it was only an excuse.

* * *

Kaede shuffled things around in her bag, but without much enthusiasm; she already kept things well organized, so there wasn't really much she could do to improve. Then again, it wasn't likely that she would have felt much enthusiasm anyway; she couldn't remember ever feeling so down.

She gripped her bag tightly. It wasn't supposed to be like this. Jiro... He was supposed to be proud of her, of her newfound strength, not... well, not how he had acted. She had never envisioned it going the way that it had.

"Kaede-chan."

She turned around quickly at the sound of her name, and saw Marumaro standing there. "Oh... Hi." She didn't really know what else to say; at the moment, she didn't feel much like talking to anyone.

Wordlessly, Marumaro came over and plopped down next to her. Once he was seated, he began to speak. "Kaede-chan, you have to try to ignore Jiro, maro. I don't know if he means it or not, but he's just like that, maro. He usually isn't that bad all of the time, but he still gets like that, maro..."

Kaede looked down. She thought of her brother, memories from only six months ago that felt more like six years, and even further back than that... Jiro, holding her hand carefully and securely as he walked her to school; Jiro, laughing, almost a musical sound, at something silly she had done; Jiro, following in their father's footsteps and working carefully at the potter's wheel in the shed; Jiro, skillfully carving some project he'd worked on for half the summer, and wouldn't tell her what it was because, "It's supposed to be a surprise."; Jiro, reading to her for hours while she sat on his lap and leaned her back against his chest, still continuing to read for her even when she started to doze off, hearing the echo of his voice in that place between sleep and consciousness; Jiro, scowling at her with very little malice when she teased him about anything and everything; Jiro, smiling at her in that loving way that only big brothers seemed able to do.

Very quietly, her voice barely above a whisper, she said, "Not my Jiro."

Marumaro thought a moment before answering. "Kaede-chan, you have to keep something in mind, maro. The Jiro you knew... might not be the same as the Jiro I know, maro."

* * *

Shu sat with his arms crossed, glaring at Jiro viciously. "You're a jerk."

"And you're an idiot," the irritation was clear in Jiro's voice, and he hoped Shu would take the hint and back off. It switched to irritated sarcasm as he added, "What else is new?" After all, they had that exact same exchange almost at least once every day.

"No," Shu said firmly. "I mean it this time. I mean, come on - with what you said, you might as well have just shoved your sister towards the sleeping bags. And she didn't even do anything. Really, Jiro, what's gotten into you? You know we could use her help getting into the outpost. It's usually just you, me, and Marumaro, since Kluke and Bouquet have more defensive type Shadows. But, even though they have that healing ability, Kaede and Panda are outright fighter type; with a little training, eventually they could probably beat any of us. You saw how she held off Nene back in his fortress-"

"Shu." Kluke interrupted him very sharply, a warning in her voice. "That's enough."

"What?" He turned his head, glaring at her, his tone seeming to say, _Why are you taking _his_ side?_

What Shu had failed to notice, but what Kluke had, was that ever since Shu had started mention Kaede and her Shadow, Jiro's hands had started to shake violently.

"She will _not_ be fighting," Jiro's voice trembled, mirroring the rest of his body's movement. "And that's the end of it."

He stilled immediately when Kluke placed a hand on his arm, feeling an odd and slightly foreign sense of calm come over him. "Jiro. It's okay."

"It's _not_ okay, Kluke!" Shu snapped at her, seemingly for more reason than one as his eyes darted back and forth from her to the spot where she was touching Jiro. "Kaede is one of the team now, and he has to learn that! How fair is it to her if we don't let her use Panda to help? It would be one thing if she didn't want to fight, but you heard her - she wants to!" Shu folded his arms and leaned back. "And I say we let her."

"It doesn't matter what you say!" Jiro shot forward, unintentionally away from Kluke. "_I'm_ her brother, and _I'll_ be the one to make any decisions concerning her!"

"That's enough, you two!" Kluke moved so she was between them. "We've had enough fighting amongst ourselves for one day. Both of you, just cool off." When it seemed like they wouldn't bite off each other's heads, she relaxed. _They didn't used to fight this bad when Zola was around... But I know that's not the whole reason Jiro is so upset right now._ Just as she finished thinking it, she glanced at him.

Shu had been looking like he was contemplating something, but then he seemed to come to a decision of some sort; he looked carefully at Jiro. "You know... When I first saw Kluke use Phoenix, I was terrified. Really, really proud - more proud than I've ever been in my whole life - but terrified. Especially when I saw that it hurt her to use the Protect Feather. I was scared for her." He swallowed, lowering his head slightly.

Kluke and Jiro were both listening to him with surprise - Kluke, because she'd had no idea of Shu's side of the story, and Jiro, because he hadn't expected Shu to understand.

Shu lifted his eyes again. "But, I knew that Kluke was glad she finally had her Shadow; I knew she had wanted to help, ever since she said she was going to come with us, and this meant that she could finally do that. I decided then that I would do everything within my power to protect her, just like she tried to protect all of us, but I wouldn't hold her back." He grinned widely. "Just like Phoenix, I'd let her spread her wings."

Kluke felt herself blushing. "Shu, that's so cheesy." Honestly, she didn't think it was - she actually thought it to be incredibly sweet - but if she teased him, she never felt as embarrassed when he said things like that.

"Is not!" Shu huffed, looking away. "I was trying to be nice, too!"

Kluke and Shu started bickering then, but Jiro wasn't really paying attention - he was focused on what Shu had just said. _Is that... Is that what I need to do?..._ For a moment, he considered it; maybe he _did_ need to let go.

But, then he remembered - Chimera's Graviton Ball, hurtling towards Kaede... Had Kluke and Phoenix not used the Protect Feather at just the right moment, and had Kaede not been a Shadow User, his sister would have died. He supposed that should make him feel better about her having a Shadow, but it had the opposite effect - it only made him think that next time, it could be something worse, something that she wouldn't escape from alive. _No. I won't let that happen. Shu doesn't understand - Kluke is his friend, not his sister. It isn't possible for him to understand... But, that's exactly why I have to stand by my decision - whatever it takes, I won't let Kaede fight. I will not lose her again._

Everything happening with Shu, Kluke and Jiro came to an abrupt halt when a sound echoed in the air.

Laughter. Kaede's laughter.

The three of them whirled around in the direction of the sleeping bags, and gaped at what they saw. Kaede, holding her sides as she laughed, seeming like she was trying very hard not to fall over. Next to her, Marumaro was gesturing broadly as he told her about something; the trio, so to speak, was too far away to hear what he was saying.

Kluke let out a relieved sigh. "Well, at least he got her smiling, right?" Immediately after saying this, she yelped in surprise as the sound of something banging on a pot echoed through the camp.

"Okay, everyone!" Bouquet stopped making noise with the cooking utensils, then raised the serving spoon in the air. "It's time to eat!"

* * *

After breakfast, everyone immediately collected their things and set out; time was precious, and it wouldn't be wise to waste it.

As they walked, Bouquet glanced from Jiro to Kaede, the former in front of her and the later behind. Though she couldn't place it, there seemed to be some tension between the siblings that hadn't been there before, which seemed to be made even more obvious by the fact that they'd put distance between each other. She had thought of finding out what was going on, but decided against it; if it was truly important, someone would tell her, or at least talk amongst themselves about it and she'd manage to hear it then.

The thing Bouquet couldn't understand was why Kaede walked alongside Marumaro - for the life of her, she couldn't figure out why any girl would want to stand next to that pervert. And the thing even more baffling than this was that Marumaro hadn't tried anything with her - he only talked to her, and seemed strangely happy and content with only doing that. If it wasn't for herself, Shu and Kluke acting normal, Bouquet would've thought that everyone had lost their minds.

Suddenly, Jiro broke the relative quiet. "Over there." He pointed ahead, where a grayish building was just barely visible. "It looks like the outpost."

"Hang on; I'll check it out." Kluke knelt down, simultaneously swinging her backpack in front of her. After retrieving what she needed, she stood, coming over to where Jiro was. Once next to him, she lifted the pair of binoculars to her eyes.

Jiro folded his arms. "What can you see, Kluke?"

"There's a small wooden watchtower on the eastern side of the outpost, and it seems to be blind to the western side. They've got guards at all the entrances, though they're usually just one or two. And some of them are moving around, so they're not always standing directly in front of the ways inside." That seemed a bit sloppy to her, but she thought that now wouldn't be the time to comment about it. After increasing the magnification, she added, "Most of the ventilation system appears unguarded as well. So..." She lowered the binoculars. "It should be pretty easy for us to get in."

"Good," Jiro nodded, then turned to the rest of the group. "Get ready, everyone - we're heading inside."

* * *

_**End of Part One**_

_***eyecatch of Jiro and Minotauros***_

_**End of Part Two**_

* * *

For the guards of Grand Kingdom Outpost 3375, the day had been uneventful, as per usual. Not much ever happened in this particular outpost - the rest of the army didn't even call on them to send out a mechat, and the place was _filled_ with them, more than most in fact.

Several (translation: most) of the soldiers were considering quitting their jobs - anything had to be better than staring at distant canyons all day.

Though their boredom was understandable, maybe if they were a little more alert, they would have noticed the six kids that infiltrated their base.

* * *

"Ow!" Jiro let it out as only a whisper, so as not to alert anyone of their presence; he held the finger that he'd cut while trying to pull off the grating. _Would it kill them to do something about the rust?_

"Let me try." Kluke scooted forward from somewhere behind him, screwdriver in hand. He pulled back; if anyone could get it off, it would be her.

And Jiro was completely correct in his assumption - in a matter of seconds, Kluke was quietly removing the grating and setting it aside.

One by one, the Shu-tachi jumped down the hole and into the hallway, being as silent as possible.

After everyone was through, Kaede craned her neck up to look at the grating above them. "I can't believe you got lost in the ventilation system in Nene's Fortress, Maro-kun - it's so easy to get through those."

"Maro..." Marumaro looked down, kicking at the ground sheepishly.

Bouquet giggled. "If anyone would get lost, it would be Marumaro."

He ducked his head slightly, clearly embarrassed (though this was a surprise to everyone else, Kaede was oblivious). "It's true, maro. If I didn't get lost all the time, I probably wouldn't have met everyone, maro."

"... Maro-_kun_?" The venomous whisper made everyone turn their heads, and they were immediately met with the sight of Jiro glaring dangerously at Marumaro. Shu, having seen a ghost of that look on occasion, took an instinctive leap backwards.

Kaede shrugged nonchalantly, eyes closed. "Maro-kun has been very kind to me; a very good friend. And if you have a boy who is a very close friend, or more rarely a girl, it's appropriate to add the honorific of '-kun' to their name. Or have you forgotten that, Oniichan?" She opened her eyes again, looking right at him.

Jiro sputtered angrily for a moment before Kluke stepped in. "Come on, you two," she stretched her arm between them. "We're in enemy territory, where we could be caught at any second - we can't afford to do this right now."

Kaede sighed a little, but complied, immediately going over to stand closely beside Kluke.

Jiro angrily muttered something unintelligible under his breath, then strode past the two of them.

Kaede let him go for about fifteen seconds, before dryly saying, "Opposite direction, Oniichan."

Jiro came back, passing them again, looking more flushed than a few seconds ago.

* * *

It was only a short while after that when they managed to find the door to the database. Kaede found it right away, being familiar with Grand Kingdom's coding system.

As she pulled the Grand Kingdom keycard from the pouch at her side, she thought, _Even if Oniichan is going to keep me from fighting, at least there's something I can still do to help._

Once the door was unlocked, the group of six entered inside.

Excluding the side from which they'd come in, the walls were lined with flashing consoles, with keyboard panels directly beneath them.

Kaede took a few steps further in. "We need to hurry. It won't be long before the guards come back from patrolling the other side." She turned and looked up at Kluke. "You're good with computers, right?" When the older girl confirmed this, she continued by saying, "I'll need your help, then. I know the passwords, but I don't know how to use the technology."

"Okay." Kluke nodded, and then the two of them hurried over to one of the consoles.

Marumaro folded his arms behind his head with an irritated sigh. "What are the rest of us supposed to do, maro?"

Jiro leaned back against the wall. "We should probably watch the door in case someone tries to come inside."

"What boring work." Shu folded his arms.

"Hey, guys," Kluke called over her shoulder. "Some papers are going to be coming out of a slot on the right-hand panel, and I need one of you to grab it."

"I'll get it!" Bouquet offered, going over to the spot and searching for where they were supposed to come out. She had come close to the panel so she could try to get a better look and find it more easily, so she cried out in surprise when a sheet of paper popped out right next to her head. _A little too close and that could've been my eye._

After pulling the sheet out of the slot, she furrowed her eyebrows once she saw what was on it. "What is this?"

"The coordinates of General Rogi's ship." Kaede explained. "We're going to try and get a schematic of the inside of the ship next-"

"I think you're going to have to skip ahead to the mechat location!" Jiro whispered loudly.

Kaede looked over at him in confusion. "What do you-"

"Someone's coming!" Shu and Marumaro said simultaneously in the same whisper-yell as Jiro, both of them flailing their arms.

Kluke cursed quietly, typing rapid commands into keyboard. _That schematic would've come in handy, too..._ "Alright, Bouquet, the directions to the mechat are coming!"

Now knowing where the paper would come out, Bouquet wasn't caught unaware this time, and retrieved it right away. "Got it!" She lifted it in the air.

"Bouquet, too loud!" Everyone cried out (except for Bouquet herself).

She cringed. "Sorry."

As if on cue, there was a series of hard knocks on the door. "Hey, who's in there?" A muffled voice came through. "That room is off limits."

Shu and Marumaro grabbed the doorknob, in a vain attempt to block anyone from coming in. Shu shut his eyes tightly. "Oh man, we're so screwed!"

"Don't panic." Jiro whispered to him. "Keep a cool head and we'll get out of here." Turning to the door, he raised his voice as he said, "Just maintenance!"

"We weren't notified of any maintenance," another spoke from behind the door. "Let us in at once!"

"Shoot," Jiro muttered. "I guess we don't have any choice." He looked to Shu and Marumaro. "Both of you, get ready to back up - I'm going to punch the door down!"

"_Punch_ _the door down_?" Shu gaped at him. "This thing is metal, you know. Since when did you get _that_ strong?"

"Not _me_, you idiot!" Jiro yelled. "Using my Shadow!"

"Oh." Shu blinked. "Why didn't you say that in the first place?"

Jiro pinched between his eyebrows and groaned.

Kluke stood from the chair in front of the console, Kaede at her side. "Bouquet," she said, getting the other girl's attention. "Whatever you do, hold onto those papers."

Bouquet nodded, holding up a fisted hand. "Leave it to me!"

"Hey!" The guards outside banged on the door again. "Let us inside _now_!"

Jiro stood his ground. "Alright! Here we go!"

* * *

As the guard next to him started banging on the door again, the other looked down when he noticed something very... abnormal. "Hey, uh... Do you see that...?" He pointed to the space underneath the door, where there was a-

"What the-?!" The other guard reeled back. "Is that... Is that _glowing green_?"

And then suddenly, a shout from the other side of the door: "Dotou!!"

The metallic door was thrown forward, torn from its hinges, flattening the guards underneath. The two soldiers were mostly uninjured, but they were struggling to lift the door off.

The group came rushing out of the database room, slipping and sliding - Marumaro actually _rolled_ momentarily - before managing to regain their proper footing.

"Not good, maro!" Marumaro was struggling to keep up with the others; feeling bad for him, Kaede lagged slightly.

"Bouquet!" Kluke started. "You have the papers - which way to the mechat?!"

"U-um..." Bouquet turned the paper around in her hands; the thing was so _confusing_... "Where did we start?!"

"The yellow box in the lower left corner!" Kaede supplied.

"Oh!" Bouquet flipped the map completely upside-down. _No wonder it didn't make sense._ "But where is the room with the mechats?"

"Orange rectangle!" Kaede added again.

Bouquet's eyes widened. "But... That's in the upper right corner - it's almost completely opposite from where we are! Oh, we'll never get out of here!" She shook her head from side to side.

"It doesn't matter how far we have to go!" Jiro interrupted her. "They'll know where we are in a matter of minutes; a mechat is our only chance out of here!"

"Alright," Bouquet sighed, looking down at the paper again. "We need to take the next left!"

Fortunately, the turn was only a few feet away.

However, there was also a problem.

"There they are!" Three soldiers, armed with the standard Grand Kingdom rifles.

"Look out!" Bouquet yelled, making a harsh turn, everyone following suit.

Except for one.

"_Help_!" Shu slid across the ground, right towards the soldiers, unable to find a solid grip to the slippery metal floor.

"Shu!!" Moving fast, and at the same time, Kluke and Jiro each took hold of one of his arms, and pulled.

But they hadn't pulled quite fast enough.

"Ah!!" Shu cried out, obviously in pain, as he collapsed on top of Kluke, dragging Jiro to one knee.

Kluke pulled herself into a sitting position, half-holding Shu, and when she looked down- "_Shu_!!" She clutched his shirt next to a newly made tear, showing the red mark where the Grand Kingdom rifle fire had connected with its target.

"What happened to him?!" Bouquet was rushing to kneel down next to Kluke.

"They hit him." Jiro said grimly. "There's no time for this - we need to go. _Now_."

Kluke began protesting. "But, Shu-"

"It feels like it's on fire, but I can live with it for a few minutes." Shu managed to pull himself into a crouch.

Marumaro, who had went over to the corner to peer around it, immediately darted past everyone. "Run, maro!!!"

Everyone took his advice, got to their feet, and sprinted after him.

They took several turns left and right, not bothering to check the direction - their current focus was only on getting to a place where they could rest for a minute or two.

Eventually, they managed to get to that point - as soon as they had stopped, most of the group collapsed on the ground, trying to catch their breath.

Shu winced as his hand touched just below the cut on his back. "Ugh, it hurts..."

Bouquet place a hand on his arm. "Shu..."

Seeing Shu in pain like that... It made something inside of Kaede snap. "I won't let this go on!"

"Kaede-" Jiro started forward, with intentions to stop her, but not soon enough.

With a good deal of grayish-white light, and a "pyon", Kaede summoned Panda.

The Shadow blinked a few times, trying to get used to her surroundings. "Pyon-pyon...?" She looked down at her User. "Kaede-chan, what's going on?"

"It's Shu - he's hurt!" The urgency in her voice was clear. "Can you help me heal him?"

"Of course!" Panda paused for a moment, taking a deep breath, then- "Pyon!!" The blinding flash appeared like it had before, following by the blue swirling light, and then the following flash... The only difference was that there were less balls of light than there had been last time.

"It's gone!" Bouquet gasped, her hand near the tear in Shu's shirt.

"She healed him!" Kluke added, her voice a mix of surprise and happiness.

"Kaede..." Shu was smiling at her warmly. "Thank you."

Her arms folded behind her back, Kaede could feel herself blushing. "I'm glad I could help."

"Kaede." Jiro cut in, his tone and eyes equally sharp. "Why did you do that?"

She glared at him. "Because he was hurt, and I could help-"

"No!" He interrupted her. "You shouldn't have done it!"

"If someone's hurt, and I can help them, then I'm going to!" She argued.

Jiro shook his head. "You can't! Do you understand? You can't!" _I can't lose you. Why won't you understand?_

"Guys," everyone stopped when Marumaro's voice broke through. "I think we should get out of here, maro."

"He's right," Kaede turned to everyone, pointedly away from Jiro. "We've spent too much time here. They'll find us if we stay here longer." She nodded to Panda, who "pyon-ed" in agreement, and started running forward.

"_No_!" Jiro grabbed her by the arm and moved her backwards, being carried ahead of her by momentum. "Unsummon your Shadow and stay back-!"

But he moved forward too much, past the corner.

"There! One of the intruders!" Jiro turned his head, seeing a line of armed soldiers.

And then, as they opened fire, something pushed him to the ground.

When he opened his eyes, he was met with the sight of his sister and her Shadow, Panda covering the two siblings as the ammunition hit her and did essentially nothing.

As Kaede sat up, she winced and grabbed her arm. "Ow. One of them actually stung a little."

"Kaede..." He stared at her in shock, as she brushed off the damage being dealt to her as nothing.

The noise from the rifles ceased. Panda maneuvered her head so she could look at Kaede. "They stopped-pyon."

"Good." She nodded, then stood, Panda uncurling. At first appearance, Kaede seemed to just be standing. But, seeing her feet, her heels were off of the floor, keeping her ready to pounce at any second.

One of the soldiers took a large step back, eyes bugging, hand trembling in the air as he pointed. "She... Our weapons didn't do _anything_!"

"Enough!" Another one of them snapped. "She's just a little girl! She can't do anything to us!"

Kaede chuckled then, moving some of her hair away from her face - in this moment, she was so much like her brother, that the Shu-tachi, including Jiro himself, were utterly stunned - and then quietly, humorously saying, "_Just_ a little girl..." She opened her eyes then. "Don't you silly _adults_ know by now that everything isn't as it appears?"

Moving so rapidly that the soldiers only registered her movement seconds after it happened, Kaede swept her arm in a wide arc. "_Hah_!" With that battle cry, she went into a full charge.

Following this immediately after, Panda took in a huge gulp of air, and blew it out as fire.

The soldiers cried out in fear, but there wasn't much point - both Kaede and Panda took extra care to make sure none of them were harmed.

When Panda stopped breathing the flames, it had left behind a tall fire wall.

Panda placed her hands on her "hips". "Well, that should take of them for a while, right-pyon?" She looked down at her User.

Kaede grinned up at her Shadow, arms folded. "You got it."

Jiro stood. "You... You purposefully didn't hurt them... Didn't you?"

"Well, of course," she blinked at him. "I don't want to hurt anyone unless it's necessary. Well," she added as an afterthought. "Except for Nene."

Jiro blinked once, twice - the phrase came to him unbidden: _Just like Phoenix, I'd let her spread her wings._ - then rushed forward and caught her in a tight hug.

"Pyon! Pyon!" Panda flailed her arms in embarrassment.

"Ji-Jiro-" she stuttered, blushing red.

"Kaede..." He interrupted her gently, though his voice sounded tense. "I..." He held her even closer then. "Oh, Sis, I'm so sorry."

Kaede swallowed past the sudden lump; Jiro hadn't called her "Sis" since he was six years old. "I-it's okay... Y-you don't have to..." She sighed a little, trying to calm down enough so she could speak properly. "I-I should be the one apologizing. You told me not to use my Shadow, and I didn't listen-"

"No," he cut her off. "You may be young, and you may even need to be looked after every once and while, but you aren't helpless. You never really were, and you especially aren't now. I think it just took me a long time to realize it. And that's why I'm sorry - I held you back when I had no right to do so." His hands tightened on her shirt sleeves. "It's just that... I'm so scared of losing you... If I lost you again.." His voice trembled especially bad at this point. "... I don't think I could take it."

She blinked rapidly, eyes stinging. "I know... I know, Jiro. I'm sorry... I didn't want to upset you like that. But, you have to keep something in mind," she looked up at him. "If you feel that way, how do you think it's going to be for me when I see you use your Shadow?"

Jiro gasped a little; he had honestly never thought of that, and it only made him think that he _should_ have thought of it. He managed a smile, though. "How about this - why don't we just try to use our Shadows to keep each other safe?"

She smiled with him. "Sounds like a plan."

"Uh, Jiro, Kaede," Shu cut in suddenly. "I really, _really_ hate to break this up, but I think somebody's coming."

Jiro muttered something angrily and quietly; the others were too far away to hear, but Kaede seemingly had, since she giggled.

After Panda had been unsummoned, the group collected and broke off into a run down the hall.

* * *

It took several panicky minutes to figure out where they were, but panic soon turned to relief once they realized that they were close to the mechat dock. A few more right and wrong twists, plus an almost-encounter, and they were in.

Kluke clasped her hands in front of her, eyes starry. "So many mechats..." She squeezed her eyes shut, cheeks rosy. "So _cool_~..."

Shu sighed, hands spread in front of him. "Here we go..."

"Kluke," Jiro began. "Can you pick out a good mechat for us?"

She nodded cheerfully, hands behind her back. "Of course! I'd love to!" With that, she practically skipped towards the nearest ship.

"We should keep our guards up," Kaede looked around the room. "They'll be in here soon."

"Kluke, hurry!" Shu shouted, hands cupped in front of his mouth.

"This one should do!" She waved the others over.

When they had made it to the mechat Kluke had indicated, she was already climbing up the ladder from the cabin to the deck.

Just as she had stepped off, and the others had begun to climb, there was a shout from the other side of the dock. "They're getting away!!"

Kluke grabbed the railing, leaning over it. "Everyone, get inside!!"

She waited until everyone was at least inside the cabin, then hurried to the pilots chair, snapping her seatbelt on.

By the time everyone was on deck, the mechat engine had already been started. Around the time that the soldiers were halfway to where they were, Kluke took off.

Kaede, unused to flying, cried out as she was thrown backwards.

"Kaede-chan!" Marumaro grabbed her by the wrist, holding onto the railing.

Once she was kneeling on the ground, holding to the side of the ship, she managed a smile at Marumaro. "Thanks."

He grinned. "That's what friends are for, maro! Now, wait here, maro." He charged towards the machine gun. "It's time for the Defender of Justice to protect his companions, maro!"

Kaede heard a gusty sigh escape from Bouquet, followed by a murmuring of, "Crazy pervert..."

At that moment, their mechat exited from the mechat dock - and they were immediately fired upon.

"Gah!" Shu hooked his arms around the railing. "Kluke, dodge! _Dodge_!"

Jiro leaned over the side of the ship, looking behind them. "They're sending two mechats after us!" Narrowly missing some ammunition that passed close to his head, he then made his way back next to Kluke, holding tightly to the pilot's chair. "There's nothing we can do about the ground units except get away from them, but we can use the missiles to take care of the ships following us."

She nodded. "Alright. Can you take care of the lock on for me?"

"Sure." Having done it the last time they'd snatched a mechat, he was already familiar with the controls for the targeting system, and quickly had the two mechats in the lock on circle. "Okay - whenever you're ready, Kluke!"

"Let's do it!" The target circles beeped in confirmation of being locked on. "Missile shoot!" Kluke pressed the button on top of the mechat controls, sending out two missiles.

The mechats attempted to dodge, but were too slow to escape the hit - both missiles hit the ships' sides, causing them to smoke, and then start to descend.

Shu lifted up a fist in triumph. "We got 'em!"

The rest of the ammo coming from the ground forces was easy to dodge, and they sent no more ships after them.

When they'd been flying clear for a little while, Jiro turned to Bouquet. "Can I see the papers? We need to match up the coordinates of General Rogi's ship with the mechat radar."

"Here." She passed them over. For a moment, she thought of peering over his shoulder to watch, but decided against it - Kluke would be preoccupied with piloting the mechat for who knew how long, and that meant that Bouquet could spend time with Shu uninterrupted... Giddy at the thought, she sidled up to her Darling, who was only a few feet away...

But when Kluke gasped, and Jiro asked, "What is it?", Bouquet found out that her time with Shu would be interrupted after all.

"We're..." Kluke swallowed. "We're close... Really, really close. In fact, we may be seeing the ship in just a few minutes."

Shu moved forward, unintentionally away from Bouquet, until he was close enough to look at the radar. He could see it - a large, flashing dot. He lifted his eyes. _The Extra Seven is in there... But, we might have to face General Rogi to get it. But, if we do get it, we'll be able to gain our Power Ups. And then we'll fight Nene..._ He gripped the railing tighter. _Hang on, Zola. We're coming._

* * *

_**End of Part Two**_

_***eyecatch of Kaede and Panda***_

* * *

_**Chapter Preview**_

*cue scenes from next chapter in background*

Narrator: With the mechat, the Shu-tachi can now board General Rogi's ship. The battle for the Extra Seven has begun!

Marumaro: I don't want to jump, maro!

Shu: I won't let anything stand in my way!

Bouquet: I don't have to get the Extra Seven the way I did in the regular series, do I?

*cuts to black* *music stops*

Shu: (whispering) Bouquet... No one is supposed to talk about that.

Bouquet: Oh. Sorry.

*everything resumes*

Kluke: It's General Rogi and his squad! It looks like we'll have to fight!

Shu: Wait... Is that... Zola?!

Next chapter of Blue Dragon: Maple Leaf - Rogi's Ship.

* * *

**And chapter two is finally done! :D Man, this turned out **_**really**_** different from how I thought it would... The thing between Jiro and Kaede was completely unplanned - the whole time I was writing it, I had no idea where it would go, until I finally managed to find a proper resolution to the hostility. It kind of evolved from the thought that Jiro couldn't possibly want his sister to be fighting with a Shadow, especially after thinking she was dead for all of that time, and the risk of losing her again, and it kind of just snowballed from there... Anyway, that was most of my worry for this chapter - I was actually pretty pleased with how the rest of it turned out. :) Though it was a bit longer than it was supposed to be... Anyway, please review and let me know what you thought - I have mixed feelings about this chapter, so I'm interested in seeing what everyone thinks of it. I'll try to update after 10 hits - despite the fact that most, if not all, of my stories are late, _Maple Leaf_ takes a long time to write anyway, so it may be a while before this is updated. I'll try to hurry, though. See you soon! :D**


	3. Rogi no Fune

**Wow, two uploads in one day! :D It's been a while since I've done that, hasn't it? I didn't think I would finish this chapter until tomorrow, but… No complaints here. XD Anyway, I got a lot of rambling out of my system earlier in the notes for **_**Questions**_**, so I'll just skip ahead to the review replies.**

**YuukixZero16-in-yellow:** Thanks. :D Oh, he definitely is; he was in the regular season, thus he must be here. ;) In fact… He might even be showing up sooner than you think. ;D Sorry for the wait (at least it's a little better than last time…), but here it is! :) O-oh… *blushes* Thank you! :D I'm glad you're enjoying it; I'll try to keep it up. :)

**Prince of Tennis' Shaman:** *blushes* Thanks. XD I miss you, too… I'm sorry that I've been slow with messages and reviews and such… I'll try to move faster. Th-thank you… (_Game Jiro: Great… Now _you_ look like you're ready to cry._) It was indeed (with a vengeance, if I remember correctly). Ah, d-don't panic; it was only… what Jiro doesn't want us to talk about. No worries; as long as you're alright. :) (_Oh, maybe a bit, Jiro, don't you think? :P_) (_Game Jiro: Let's see… No._) (_Still no fun… XP_) XD Yeah. XD Alright, then. :) (_Kaede: Ah… Sorry. *sweatdrops* Oh… *blushes* I don't think anyone's ever added "-san" to my name before._) I'm sure it'll be okay; the first chapter was incredible, so I'm sure the next one will be, too. :D (_Ooh, I want to see them, too!_) (_Game Jiro: *pinches between eyebrows*_) Ah… Yes. :) Okay. Don't worry, it's alright; take your time. :) But… Unless you want to keep translating, you don't have to, since I've been translating the Spanish subs (I've been moving kind of slow with that, but still…). *sigh* Unfortunately, it does seem like I'll need to get a new one… But, I'm trying to be optimistic about it; this means I can get a DS Lite (I've still been using the original DS). XD I'll probably be able to get one sometime in December or early January; not sure when exactly… But, I'm pretty excited about it, because I'll get to play my DS games again. :D Anyway (I'm rambling again, aren't I?)… Thanks, An. :) Yeah; think those are the most descriptive notes I've had for a while. Ah, cool; I wish I could see them… but it's cool all the same. XD Oops. I knew I forgot something. *sweatdrops* When I mentioned Marumaro lifting his arms, I'd meant during his own summoning sequence for Saber Tiger. Sorry about that… Ah… Oh, well… Considering how things often happen to me, it's probably one of the episodes I haven't watched yet. XP Yes… Me, too. I actually didn't, either, but I thought that was likely how they would react (it wasn't out of character, was it?). Well… More Marumaro than Shu; he just might be having some feelings for a certain someone, so accordingly, he responded a little rashly. (_Kaede: Feelings for who?_) (_Marumaro: N-nobody, maro!_) Ah… Perhaps I am, too. XP Marumaro cares a lot for… Kluke? Well… I suppose he does; I just didn't think it was that obvious last chapter. He tried to… I think he might've felt a little bad about being _quite_ so harsh to Jiro, and that was kind of his way of making up for it. (_Shu: Was not!_) (_Hm… Denial. XD_) Oh, dear… Is everything alright? *slightly worried* Glad to hear it. :D Ah, that's good; if it had a bit of everything, then I consider it a success. :) Yep, she will be appearing this chapter (since the preview from last chapter already revealed that, I'm not worried about spoiling it). And I'm glad for it; I've missed her while she's been gone, especially from a writer's perspective. I don't know why, but certain situations just seem easier to write when she's there… Don't worry; they've still been turning out great. :) Alright… Ah, well, don't worry about it; I'll figure something out. But, if you do happen to see it, just let me know. :)

**WindGoddess Rune:** Yep! :D Finally, huh? XD Really? Ah, that's good news; I hadn't thought it would be that funny, but I'm glad it was. :) I know; I haven't read it yet, but you mentioned it in some other reviews… I'm sorry it's taking me so long, but I _will_ try to get around to replying.

**Ultimashadow:** Thank you! :D Don't worry; take your time. :) Looks like it. :D Suppose so… Though it is because he's worried about his sister. (_Jiro: Guess it's alright…_) Ah, yes… Yep; I was so happy to finally write that scene. :D Yeah, I guess it is pretty unlikely. XD Well, it _would_ have hurt in the morning if Kaede hadn't healed him. ;) Ah… If it left you in suspense, then I'm doing my job right. ;D Really? Well… Maybe she will. Maybe she won't. ;) It'll probably be revealed this chapter, though. Alright; I'll try to do my best. :) Actually, it almost always helps me feel better, even if only for a little while, so that's how I usually manage to do it. Again, don't worry about it; just go at your own pace. :) Anyway, hope you enjoy the chapter. :D

**Ultimashadow:** Oh… I actually hadn't noticed it until I read this review. XD No problem.

**Growlmon1:** Glad to hear it! :D It's okay; whenever you're able to, it's fine. :) Yeah, I had a feeling he'd be that way, too, so that's something I tried to emphasize last chapter (though it's probably pretty obvious I was trying to do that). Definitely. XD And that's actually a very good prediction; you'll know what I mean later on. ;) Yes… She's pretty strong, especially considering how recently she received her Shadow… Well, maybe not exactly _with_ General Rogi… But, then again… Ah, well, you'll see in the chapter. ;) Maybe… But I'll let you read to find out. No, if they were to fight Zola, she probably wouldn't. (_Kaede: *scowling* You bet I am._) Ah… At least one should be answered. ;) Well, in that case, here's the next chapter! :D

**And review replies are done! :D Still don't really have anything to say, so… I don't know how well this chapter turned out, but I'll let you guys be the judge of that. With that, read on! ;D**

Rogi was not having the best of days.

Something he had a great appreciation for was a clear, orderly goal, and the last week had not been a prime example of that.

The orders had all come directly from Nene, but with how haphazard they had been, Rogi seriously had his doubts.

First they were flying and trying to stay out of sight. Then they were landing to refuel the battleship. Then they were staying put until Delphinium showed up. Then after they'd gotten her, they had to wait - in the same spot - for further instructions. Then they were supposed to leave and get away from that place as quickly as possible. And finally, they were supposed to stay absolutely still - _in the air_ - as they received some kind of special delivery from a cargo ship. (That's where he stood now - where the two ships were connected for the delivery - and waiting for this supposed cargo.)

... Was it too much to ask for Nene to make up his mind?

But... It wasn't _all_ bad. Despite the orders being given randomly, it still had the desired effect - Nene had succeeded with whatever he'd been planning, simultaneously allowing Delphinium to board the ship undisturbed, and for them to leave directly afterwards.

So... Even if he didn't _entirely_ know everything that Grand Kingdom's king had planned, everything seemed to be moving along nicely, which meant that there wasn't much need for Rogi to worry about-

The pain came suddenly.

He grabbed at his scar, which had started to burn. But... Why? How? Why and how could it be doing this? Unless...

Rogi's eyes widened. No... It couldn't be... It couldn't-

The door slid open, two armed Grand Kingdom soldiers walking out; from the space between their shoulders, Rogi could make out Szabo's head. The soldiers moved aside, and then Rogi saw - cradled in the Mecha Robo's arms was the unconscious, silver-haired woman.

_Zola._ Rogi's composure vanished instantly. "Szabo, what in the-"

"That will be enough, General Rogi." Szabo interrupted him smoothly, sounding quite smug.

Rogi paid him no heed. "What is she _doing_ here?"

"I trust that you were informed that we would be making a delivery," Szabo continued, ignoring Rogi completely. "Your task is to keep an eye on the cargo, and if it still hasn't sunk in yet, you're looking at it."

"_It_ is a _she_." Rogi ground out, wondering if maybe his past connection to Zola hadn't been severed after all.

The Mecha Robo chuckled. "Getting soft, are you?" With a slight turn of the head, he offered Zola to the nearest soldier. "Bring her to one of the confinement rooms. Don't dally - come back immediately, or we'll leave you behind."

Once the soldier had left, Rogi glared at Szabo. "Just what do you think you're doing, anyway? This is my ship - _I_ am the one in charge here."

Szabo came as close as he could to a sneer. "We'll see about that."

The glare turned to daggers. "_What_ did you say?"

Szabo turned his back on Rogi, chuckling. "Nothing. Just remember to watch your back, human." Szabo's chuckles turned to a full-out, malicious laughter as he re-entered through the sliding door, leaving Rogi with more questions than answers.

* * *

**ロギの船 ****(****ろぎ の ふね****)/Rogi no Fune (Rogi's Ship)**

* * *

Kluke swore in her head, one eye open, the other closed, teeth grinding together. How could she have been so careless?

Everything had been going fine - they'd almost been at Rogi's ship. And then, somehow, they'd wound up in a thick cloud bank.

Being in the clouds had caused static on the radar, so there would be no chance of using it to help them get back into the cloudless part of the sky. The only thing Kluke could do was keep piloting the ship and hope they managed to get out somehow, hopefully sometime soon.

"How are we going to find the ship like _this_?!" Bouquet wailed. "We'll never get out of here!"

"Bouquet, shut _up_," Jiro snapped at her on the aside, patience being worn thin, though he felt a slight bit of gratitude towards her (and a good deal of amusement) when he heard Shu's yelps as she crushed him in one of her hugs. Turning his attention forward, he said, "Don't listen to her, Kluke. Just keep your cool and do what you always do. I know you'll get us out of this."

Kluke let out a breath she hadn't known she'd been holding. "Thanks, Jiro." She didn't know what had brought on his encouragement so suddenly, but she was grateful to him - her doubts about herself had evaporated, and she was more than confident enough to get them into the clear. She threw the mechat controls forward, "Hang on, guys!"

With startled shouts, the group held on tightly to the railings as the ship rocketed through the clouds, barely able to make out the grayish curves that were blurred by the speed, before most of them closed their eyes from the stinging wind.

When Shu dared to open his eyes again, just a fraction, he shouted over the storm, "I see light up ahead!"

"Come on..." Kluke whispered, to both herself and the ship. "Just a little further..."

And then they were out on the other side, the sun shining down brightly on them, but not as far away as it had been before.

"We're out!" Kluke's voice was happy, nearly laughing.

Bouquet screamed, pointing at the thing that came out of the clouds directly above them. "It's _huge_!!"

"That's not all that it is," Kluke said tightly, looking at the radar, which had become operational as soon as they were out of the clouds. "That's General Rogi's ship."

* * *

Rather abruptly, Cynthia was leaning against his room's doorway. "Hey, you hear about what happened?"

Andropov closed his eyes and started counting to ten. He made it to thirty-eight and wasn't any less agitated than when he'd been at one. Slowly, he said, "No, but I'm sure you're going to tell me."

She pushed off the doorframe, twirling once, before leaning in front of him, hands placed just above her knees. "We had a cargo delivery."

"_Fascinating_," the sarcasm in his voice was incredibly thick. "Now maybe you can tell me something I don't know, because unless you've recently gotten short-term memory loss, the whole squad was informed about it."

Cynthia pouted. "Come on, Andropov dear, don't be so grumpy. You didn't even give me a chance to tell you the best part."

"Maybe that's because I had actually been _doing_ something before you decided to come and bother me." He hadn't been doing much of anything, actually - mostly just reading, and not really even paying much attention to the book besides. But, in fairness to him, with all of the craziness around the battleship, saying that Andropov had been overworked would be putting it lightly, and as such he'd been very irritable as of late.

"Hmph." She closed her eyes, tossing her head to the side. "Fine, be that way. But, you'll never find out what I was going to tell you."

"What a terrible loss." Andropov muttered, not quite under his breath.

"I heard that. And just because of that, I'm going to tell you anyway."

He arched an eyebrow. "And this is getting back at me _how_?"

Cynthia let out a gusty sigh. "The cargo is a person. Zola."

Andropov's head shot up. "What?"

"Zola. You know, the woman who leads those Shadow User kids." _And that haughty little brat Bouquet,_ she added in her head. She started examining her nails. "Also, General Szabo supposedly said something to upset Rogi-sama, so he isn't in a very good mood right now."

Andropov only grumbled, "He isn't the only one..."

* * *

"Hold on, everyone! I'm going to bring us closer!" Kluke told them.

"We have to be careful!" Kaede shouted over the engine. "We'll be able to sneak by for a little while because the mechat looks like one of theirs, but they'll figure out pretty soon that we aren't one of them!"

Jiro nodded, noting how they were especially close to the ship now. "We'll make it quick, then. It'll go better if we move fast anyway-"

"What the _heck_?" Shu unintentionally cut him off. "What..." Without another word, he started striding towards the back of the mechat. When the others looked to see what he was doing, they saw that he'd knelt down by their bags and started pushing them aside until he found what he'd seemingly been looking for - he yanked Kaede's bag away from the pile. But the thing that caught their attention, and what had caught Shu's initially, was that the bag glowed brightly.

Kaede rushed forward, taking it out of his hands. "What happened to my bag?..." Then, an idea struck her, one that seemed crazy enough that it might actually be true. She stuffed her hand inside, shuffling through her belongings until she came across it, and bringing it out of the bag, discovered that she'd been right after all.

Marumaro voiced what Kaede had been thinking. "The mural piece is glowing, maro!"

Bouquet's eyes widened. "Why is it doing that?"

Jiro stared at it for a moment, then asked, "Kaede, can I see that for a moment, please?"

"Sure." She placed it in her brother's palm.

Jiro turned it over in his hands a few times, then looked around a little before turning his attention back to the stone. Suddenly, he snapped his head upwards, looking at the battleship with a mixture of stun and astonishment. "No way... I don't believe it..."

"What is it, Jiro?" Shu looked up as well, albeit being unable to find whatever his rival had.

"This... might sound a little crazy..." Jiro started. "... But I think it's glowing because we're near the Extra Seven."

Kaede put a hand under her chin. "Oniichan, I think you're right about that. I remember reading some ancient text that seems like it proves this-" She didn't get to finish her explanation.

From the ship's speaker came the voice of a Grand Kingdom soldier. "Unknown mechat, identify yourself immediately."

"Now what do we do?!" Bouquet whispered loudly.

Shu grabbed fistfuls of his hair, moving his hands about his head frantically, eyes scrunched shut. "Oh man, they're gonna get us!"

"Would you two stop panicking?!" Jiro hissed at Shu and Bouquet.

"_Stop panicking_?!" Shu all but shrieked at him. "They've spotted us, and they'll figure out we're not on their side in just a couple of minutes! So, in case you haven't noticed, we're all going to _die_!!"

"Not if I can help it, maro!" Marumaro rushed to the machine gun. "I never miss, maro!"

The four group members, excluding Kaede, remembering the last time he'd said that, simultaneously yelled, "Marumaro, wait-!"

Marumaro opened fire. "Da, da, da, da, da, da!" The gun was halfway to overheating before he actually managed to hit the ship, and even then the only thing he managed to damage was a window; the remaining half of the ammunition only went through the glass he had just broken, and went straight through without even touching the sharp edges.

* * *

When the window broke, Andropov yelped and Cynthia screamed. When the second wave came through, Andropov snatched his communicator off his desk and dived to the ground, dragging Cynthia down with him. They landed mercifully next to the glass, and not on top of it.

Cynthia gritted her teeth. "What the _he_-"

"Rogi-sama!" Andropov shouted into his communicator, inadvertently cutting off Cynthia's swearing. "Someone has fired on us! We're under attack! I repeat, we are _under attack_!"

* * *

"Marumaro, you _idiot_!" Jiro shouted at him.

"I had to protect everyone, maro!" Marumaro argued.

Bouquet shouted in frustration. "The only thing you did was let them know we aren't on their side!"

"It'll be okay, though!" Shu cut through. "All we have to do is get in, get the Extra Seven, and get out as fast as we can!"

"Oh, _now_ he isn't panicked..." Jiro muttered acidly.

Kluke nodded. "Sounds like a plan, Shu! Hang onto something, everyone - I'm going to ascend, and I'm going to do it fast!"

This wasn't hard for the rest of them to do - at the rate that Kluke accelerated the mechat, if they hadn't held onto anything, they very well might've fallen off.

She held the mechat relatively still near the top of the Rogi's ship. They managed to dodge the turrets on the battleship's side easily, but that wasn't what worried Kluke at the moment - it was the mechats that they would soon be sending out to deal with them first hand.

"The glow got brighter as we moved!" Shu informed them. "That must mean that we moved closer to the Extra Seven."

Kaede folded her arms, eyes closed and deep in thought. "Well, it certainly seems possible..." Any more musings were abruptly cut off.

"Darling!" Bouquet screamed when Shu leapt onto the mechat railing, crouched down on it and looking like he was about to jump off at any second.

"Shu, are you _crazy_, maro?!" Marumaro shouted.

"Considering that this is Shu we're talking about," Jiro had shut his eyes tightly, unable to watch, though he was still unsure if this was caused by Shu's stupidity or some kind of sympathy for the untimely death his rival was probably about to have, "I'd say that's something of a moot point."

"Yeah, thanks for that, Jiro." Shu said shortly.

"Behind us!" Bouquet pointed in the direction; when everyone turned, they saw three mechats coming towards them.

"Marumaro, open fire on them!" Jiro urged. "Kluke, we have to send out some missiles; I'll give you a hand!" Jiro had started moving towards her. But not quite fast enough.

A mechat had been positioned behind the battleship, where they wouldn't be able to see it, but it came out of hiding now - and immediately launched its missiles.

The projectile connected, though not directly enough for it to be serious, but enough of a hit to rock the ship.

From where Bouquet landed on the floor, she saw that he had stood. "Shu, don't!"

The one thought in his head: _Just hang on a little longer, Zola._ And then, he jumped, bracing himself for the impact.

* * *

_**End of Part One**_

_***eyecatch of Shu and Blue Dragon***_

_**Beginning of Part Two**_

* * *

When Shu had leapt from the ship, he'd imagined in his head a graceful, flawless landing, complete with a backflip or two, something fancy to impress the girls.

... That was not how it went.

His head smacked so hard against the side of the ship that he couldn't tell which of them had been injured (himself or the ship), and he'd had a somewhat painful, if difficult to describe, landing on his knee that left it slight bloody. In summarization, his entire body ached, reminding him of himself at five years old when he'd jumped out of a tree and landed stomach-first in the large pond on the outskirts of Talta (the experience had left him fervently wishing he hadn't taken off his shirt, presuming, correctly, that if he'd been wearing it, his landing wouldn't have hurt _quite_ so much).

Through the blood pounding in his ears, he thought he heard Jiro shouting at him... Something along the lines of him being a "complete and utter fool". His knee gave a sudden ache, as if it was agreeing with his rival, and he was half-tempted to agree himself.

Shu suddenly became aware of the fact that he was hanging on for his life, since at that very moment he started to slide down slightly. He secured his grip as best he could, using both hands and feet in a desperate search for a better place to hold onto.

He heard a mechat coming closer behind him, and immediately snapped his head to the left - he let out a breath of relief when he saw that it was the others and not the enemy.

Shu only had to hold on for a minute or two more; as soon as they'd disembarked, Marumaro and Bouquet rushed over to help him up. Once he was safely on the top of the ship, Bouquet started crying and threw her arms around his neck (he battled with himself to keep his cheeks from reddening), while Marumaro reiterated that he was completely nuts for jumping ship.

He managed to pry Bouquet off of him just in time to see Kluke stalking towards him. He opened his mouth-

"Don't." She held up a single finger. "You messed up the plan, and there's nothing you can say."

"The plan isn't messed up!" Shu shot to his feet, wincing at the pressure applied to the leg with the injured knee. "It's just a little... altered."

Kluke spread her arms out. "We're on _top_ of the ship. Tell me, how exactly are we supposed to get inside?"

"Like this!" Before any of them could really register what he'd meant by that, he'd run over to the side of the ship, summoned Blue Dragon, and promptly jumped.

Jiro swore, though quietly so Kaede wouldn't hear. Did Shu _ever_ think before he did anything?

When they heard glass shatter, all of them hurried to the edge, peering over just in time to see Shu and Blue Dragon flying through one of the now-broken floor-to-ceiling windows.

Jiro placed a hand at his temple, the location of a forming headache. "He's impossible."

Kluke sighed. "We'd better follow him, before he gets himself killed. Phoenix!" She brought out her Shadow, and after everyone had gotten on, flew down after Shu.

* * *

Andropov yanked open the door to his room, Cynthia running alongside him as they made their way down the hall. He yelled into his communicator, "Schneider! Lemaire! Gilliam! Prepare for battle, then report to Rogi-sama immediately!"

There were three concurrent yells of "Roger!", and then Andropov turned off the device, putting all of his effort into speeding down the hall, trying to ignore how tired he felt as he turned the corner - and came to a sliding halt.

That boy, the one with his hair tied up. The Shadow User boy, Shu. "You!" His shout sounded accusatory.

Andropov narrowed his eyes. "I could say the same."

Before either boys had a chance to do anything but glare, Phoenix swooped down into the area, entering from the broken window, stopping the flight to let her passengers off.

Bouquet yelped as she caught sight of Cynthia. "Oh, no! Not her again!"

Kaede got into a fighting stance. "Don't worry; I'll take care of this!" She summoned Panda, and after a "pyon", used their attack to create, as she'd done a short while before, a wall of fire.

Andropov grabbed Cynthia's arm, pulling her backwards away from the fire; both of them staggered slightly. He glared through the blaze; even with the waving flames partially obscuring the view, he could see the Shadows being unsummoned before the kids ran. (Well... Not that he was much older, but that wasn't the _point_.) "We'll have to go around. It takes longer, but it'll take even more time to extinguish this."

Cynthia thrust out her arm, pointing. "But, they're getting away! _Bouquet_ is getting away-!"

"Would you put aside that nonsense about that girl for a second?" Andropov interrupted her. "You're getting obsessive about that, by the way," this part he added under his breath, but apparently not quiet enough, since Cynthia scowled at him, "We can't waste anymore time talking about this, though. Even if we have to go around, we have to get to Rogi-sama, and fast - the Shadow Users are heading straight towards the Extra Seven."

* * *

Though it had previously been mentioned, it seemed worth repeating: Rogi was not having the best of days.

As the soldier finished his report, the last detail being how the children had just entered the ship, Rogi's hands tightened on folded arms. Their ship had been practically shot down, yet they still managed to infiltrate his battleship... And they'd managed this feat without Zola... Perhaps he had underestimated them.

"That will be all." Szabo said to the soldier, bringing Rogi sharply out of his musings. "Return to your post." After the man had left, the Mecha Robo shook his head. "I'd hoped to be out of here by now, but it's become apparent to me that I'll need to stay until this issue has been dealt with. It's obvious that you are incapable of handling it on your own."

Rogi gripped the hilt of his sword; it took a great deal of willpower to not draw it. "I have the situation well in hand, Szabo. I would hate for you to be so inconvenienced - please, feel free to leave at any time." _It would be a blessing to all of us, especially me._ This he didn't voice, no matter how much he wanted to, though from the narrow look that Szabo gave him, it seemed that the message had leaked out anyway.

Before the badly-disguised, wordless exchange could continue, another soldier rushed towards them, out of breath and panicked. He saluted shakily. "Sirs, forgive my interruption, but I have urgent news!"

Rogi cleared his throat. "Report."

"The, uh... cargo... prisoner, er... the, uh, the _woman_," he brightened a little, seeming relieved that he'd found likely the safest description, but the relief was short-lived.

"_Out_ with it!" Szabo snapped at him.

The soldier yelped. "Sh-she has escaped! Th-the woman has escaped!"

* * *

"This way!" Kaede directed them down the turn. They didn't have that schematic, but she knew better than they did how Grand Kingdom had their layouts, so she'd wound up being the one who lead them through Rogi's ship.

She didn't tell them how unfamiliar it seemed, how she was unsure if she would be able to find the Extra Seven. They'd let her do this because they had faith in her, and hope in the stolen pages themselves, and she wouldn't be the one to take that away. Instead, she wracked her brain, straining to remember nights when Nene had shown her maps of forts, outposts and such just before bed...

She immediately swallowed the lump that had made a sudden home in her throat. Back then, Nene had not been an enemy, but one she called friend. He had not been known to her as the one responsible for her parents' deaths. And at that time, she'd thought her brother had been dead as well. She glanced to the side, where he ran beside her, then looked forward again, this time with determination. _No. I'm going to find it. For Jiro's sake, I'll find it._

Marumaro's voice cut through her thoughts. "Kaede, your pocket, maro!"

Her eyes darted downwards, and were immediately met with the sight of her side glowing. The mural piece that she'd tucked away. "We must be close!"

Shu was suddenly on the other side of her; he must have started moving faster. "Then let's hurry up so we can get it!"

* * *

Lemaire looked over his shoulder as Andropov and Cynthia came running (and out of breath) towards the rest of the squad; his blue eyes were filled with amusement. "What took you?"

"Shove off, Lemaire," Cynthia snapped at him. "You _know_ what."

"Ah. Of course." He nodded, eyes closed, smirking. "I believe Andropov might have said something about how both of you were stopped by a measly little fire."

"Why, you..." She growled at him.

"For the record," Andropov was still attempting to catch his breath, for the most part failing, "that's not what I said."

"That's enough," Rogi spoke before any of them had another chance to, "all of you. Time is of the essence." After the three of them had straightened and quieted, Rogi continued. "Schneider, Andropov, you two will be coming with me to search for our escapee. Szabo is searching for her as well, but I'm sure that all of you know I won't just stand around and leave it to him alone. As for the rest of you, you'll be hurrying to the location of the Shadow User children, and doing whatever you can to prevent them from retrieving the Extra Seven." His eyes scanned the squad. "Is all of this clear?"

"Yes, sir!" The five voices blended together, echoing upward, exuding readiness for the battle that likely lay ahead.

* * *

Shu was the one to grab the door's handle, swinging it open... Then stopping. Staring.

"Maro..." Marumaro breathed, even he being awed by the sight of the Extra Seven, which seemed to have that power even from a distance.

"Hey!" From the corner, a Grand Kingdom scientist pointed at them. "What are you doing in here?!"

"Wait a minute..." The other scientist's eyes widened with realization. "Those must be the intruders! Hurry," he started towards where the Extra Seven pages were contained in hanging glass cases. "We mustn't let them take the Extra Seven!" But he was already too late.

Before either side had registered it, Jiro had brought out Minotauros and charged forward. "Seiha!"

The electrical attack didn't harm the scientist - he jumped backwards in fear before it had a chance to hit him.

But it did shatter the cases; the pages fell to the ground in a rain of sparkling, shattered glass.

"If I were you," Jiro spoke to the Grand Kingdom workers, while Minotauros sneered at them, "I wouldn't move."

"We have to hurry and grab them!" Kaede sped over to where the pages lay among the broken glass, kneeling down to collect them. The paper crinkled as she picked it up, just from touch alone seeming to emanate their ancient age.

Kluke and Bouquet quickly grabbed up the pages that Kaede hadn't, and then the six of them were slowly backing up, keeping a careful eye on the two scientists; both of the men looked angry about the Extra Seven being taken, but too frightened to do anything about it.

"Sorry, but we've gotta run," Minotauros gave a short wave. "We'll pay you back for the broken cases."

Jiro sighed, shutting his eyes, eyebrow twitching. "Minotauros, really."

The Shadow snickered. "Nothing wrong with being courteous."

"There's also such a thing as a time and place." Jiro shook his head, then cut off the not-exact conversation by unsummoning Minotauros (who complained in the form of a small shout before he disappeared in the shimmering blue light). With one last glance at the cowering scientists, Jiro followed the others out of the room.

* * *

Rogi's anger made itself clear with every footfall - though he was too occupied with the current emotion to have noticed, both Schneider and Andropov had taken note of his bad temper, and had accordingly put a slight space between themselves and the general - as well as being made clear in the tight set of his jaw. He'd just been trying to wrap his mind around the fact that Zola was even _here_, and then she'd somehow fled... The only bright side he could find in the situation was that it had made Szabo cross.

Just then, a blast of yellow energy in front of them sent all of them to the ground. As Rogi got to his knees, he could've sworn that he'd seen and heard the flutter of dark purple wings that vanished around a corner.

_Zola..._ His eyes narrowed. So, she thought she could best him, did she? Well, he would see to that.

Schneider grunted as he sat up. "Andropov, are you alright?"

"Honestly? No, and I haven't been for a week," Andropov joined him, settling into a crouch. "But if you want to know if I'm fit for battle, then yes, I'll manage."

"Good," Rogi stood. "Because when we catch her, she'd better be prepared for a fight."

* * *

Shu let out a joyful whoop, in his celebration nearly bumping into Kluke (who slowed down from the run just enough to momentarily glare at him). "Yeah! We actually took back the Extra Seven!"

"Don't get cocky," Jiro chided him. "We're not out of here yet."

"Stop being so negative all the time! We got the pages back, and we're going to keep them no matter what - let Grand Kingdom do their worst!"

"I have a feeling we're all going to regret him saying that..." Jiro muttered under his breath.

It didn't take long for Jiro to be proved right.

Their senses were keen enough to see it coming, so the six of them were able to quickly press themselves against the wall before a rain of razor-sharp feathers from the other end of the hall had a chance to harm them. When all of the dark gray plumes had passed, some distance away, they could see Gilliam and his Shadow, Uphir.

Marumaro pointed. "It's that guy again, maro!"

Jiro cursed. "It's a trap. Come on!" Whirling around, he sprinted the way they'd come from. "Let's try to loose them!"

Bouquet practically wailed as she heard the members of Rogi's squad getting close. "They're going to catch us!"

"Keep running!" Kaede urged. "Let's try to go back to where we came in! We'll just go out that way!"

They took several turns in an attempt to shake them, but to no avail - the three opposing Shadow Users seemed to get closer by the second. Gilliam's Shadow cawed every so often, as if it were taunting them.

Another turn, and then they saw it - the broken window. "There it is!" Shu dashed towards it.

"Oniichan!" Kaede cried fearfully.

Kluke turned at the younger girl's exclamation, and then her eyes were widening in panic. "Jiro, look out!"

He looked behind him, just in time to see Lemaire and his Shadow about to strike him down.

"Hornet Assassin!"

The attack exploded against the ground, bringing up smoke. A few seconds afterwards, Jiro took his arm away from his eyes, discovering that the smoke closest to him had cleared just slightly. Enough to make out a person.

Enough to make out their long, silver hair.

"It's her." He heard Kaede say bitterly from behind him.

"Zola..." The pain, the longing, the relief in his voice, and their severity, took him completely off guard.

"Jiro!" Zola held onto his shoulder firmly, worry evident in her eyes. She felt him leaning into her touch, and wondered if maybe he needed to know she was there just as much as she did for him. "Are you alright?"

He nodded. "I'm fine... And you? Did they... hurt you at all?"

A quick shake of the head. "Not really. But... Jiro, I..." She swallowed with difficulty. "Jiro, I'm sorry. For what happened in Nene's Fortress."

He held onto the hand that still held his shoulder in a secure grip, one that, though he wouldn't say it, he found to be extremely comforting. And one that he had dearly missed. "Don't think anything of it. That wasn't your fault; you couldn't stop what happened."

Both of them snapped their heads toward what was behind Zola when they heard the sound of Gilliam's voice. Zola turned to him again urgently. "I want to go with you... but I can't-"

"But, we can get you out of here!" Jiro interrupted, sounding desperate.

Zola shook her head. "Not yet. It isn't safe to try it yet. Trust me on this."

Jiro gazed at her for a moment, then nodded mutely, miserably.

"Did you find the Extra Seven?" When Jiro confirmed this, she continued, "Then, I have something to tell you about the pages. You must translate the Extra Seven. It will be difficult, but necessary; it will help you discover your Shadow's true potential. Once you've done so, travel to every place that each of you were born in, and when you're there, locate the ruins of the Shadows. That is where each of you will face a trial, and if you succeed, will gain your Power Ups. Once all six of you have received your new powers, you should be strong enough to face Nene and defeat him." Her eyes searched his. "Do you understand, Jiro?"

He nodded. "Yes. But... Will we really be strong enough?"

She smiled sadly. "That will be up to all of you."

"I won't let you down, Zola." His eyes shone with determination. "I promise you, I won't let you down."

A yell from behind them. "Don't let them get away!" Cynthia sounded furious.

Zola pushed him towards the others. "Go!"

"Zola!" Shu, who had been in shock at seeing Zola (as most of the others had been), finally snapped out of it and ran towards her - but was stopped by Jiro's arms around his waist, holding him back. "Jiro, let _go_ of me!"

Jiro raised his eyes to Zola's. "Be careful."

"You, too. And..." She met Shu's gaze, which caused him stop struggling, then looked to Jiro again; this time, he could see the sadness that was badly hidden behind ice blue. "Watch over them." With that, she ran towards the trio of squad members, who'd started towards her as well.

"No! Zola!" Shu started kicking out again with renewed vigor, even as Jiro dragged him backwards.

"Kluke, bring out Phoenix and get ready to take flight!" Jiro instructed over his shoulder. "We're getting out of here!"

"No, we can't! Jiro, stop! Stop!!" He pushed against the arm that held him, but Jiro was steadfastly unwilling to let go. "Zola!! _Zola_!!" This last cry echoed, telling of the tears that could no longer be held back, mourning the friend that had been left behind.

* * *

"You're very hard to find, Zola." Rogi took several steps toward her. His face showed almost no emotion. "Very hard to find."

Zola didn't even bother struggling against the soldier who held her arms behind her back. She lifted her head, several strands of hair rolling over her shoulder. Their eyes met in a challenge of who would flinch away first; neither seemed like they would be giving up anytime soon. "I thought you would've figured that out after all this time."

A corner of his mouth upturned. "I suppose I should know better, shouldn't I?"

* * *

"We have to land as soon as possible," Kluke said, having found the courage to break the silence that had been pressing down on them, suffocating them, ever since Shu had stopped screaming himself hoarse. "The damage that the mechat sustained isn't bad, but it will be if we push it."

"I think there might be a village or two near the mountains." Kaede offered quietly.

And then the silence was back full force, just as heavy, and neither girl had the will to push it off and away.

Jiro blinked against the way his eyes stung, telling himself that it was just the wind. When that didn't work, he told himself that it was from sitting on the cold, metal floor of the ship.

He still hadn't let go of Shu. He didn't know why, but he couldn't bring himself to. Maybe it was because they were both apprentices to Zola in a way that the others weren't. Maybe it was because her absence hurt them far more than anyone else in the group.

And maybe it was because of those things that the two were the only ones they could take comfort in. A silent comfort, a bitter one, a sorrowful one - one that was mortared together by a rivalry and the knowledge that someone else just _understood_.

"We left her..." Shu had finally spoken, and it made everyone freeze. "We left her again..."

And then Jiro could feel him quaking, and knew instantly that it was from crying. But, after a minute, he could tell that from listening, too.

Shu had never been very good at muffling sobs.

"But we have the Extra Seven," Jiro said softly, knowing that it was a pitiful consolation, but thinking that perhaps it could be enough to sustain. If nothing else, when it came to Shu, it was possibly the kindest tone he'd ever used. It had to count for something, then, didn't it? "So pull yourself together. It's time to make her proud."

* * *

_**End of Part Two**_

_***eyecatch of Jiro and Minotauros***_

* * *

_**Chapter Preview**_

*cue scenes from next chapter in background*

Narrator: The Shu-tachi have finally taken back the Extra Seven. However, the translation process may prove to be more difficult than they're prepared for.

Shu: Man, this is even worse than schoolwork!

Kluke: Stop complaining; it's bad enough as it is.

Bouquet: Hey, who's that little boy that keeps following Shu?

Shu: Ugh, now what…?

Kaede: Hey… Who's following _me_? Wait… is that… Maro-kun?

Marumaro: I-I just wanted to tell you something, maro…

Jiro: You'd better not do anything to my sister!

Narrator: Next chapter of Blue Dragon: Maple Leaf – Preparations.

* * *

… **And chapter three is done! :D I'm glad that's finally done… I'm a bit worried about if it turned out good or not… But that's pretty normal. ;) I still don't really have anything to say, except for what I usually say at the end of a chapter. I think that's my cue, so… If you can, please review! I'll try to update after 10 hits, but updating is mostly decided by the poll on my profile. Unlike the upload of **_**Questions**_**, this time the poll results WILL be cleared, so please remember to vote again (or for the first time, if you like)! And, that's everything I have to mention. See you soon, and happy Thanksgiving ("happy belated" if it's past midnight where you live… XD)! :D**


	4. Junbi

**Hi, guys. I don't have much time, which works out, because I said I'd be writing shorter author's notes anyway (though the end of chapter note got pretty long). The reason for this is that I think I'm going to lose my internet connection (again, I know – I'm so sorry!), and I'm scrambling to get things done. I'm letting everyone know here because I don't know if I'll have time to note it in my profile, so if you have a spare moment, spread the word for me. Anyway, time for review replies!**

**…Except there _were_ no reviews last time. I knew the last chapter turned out bad – I _knew_ it… :( In any case, I'm still leaving the space here in case chapter three is reviewed sometime in the future. Another important note: my writing has gotten wordier since I last wrote for _Maple Leaf_, so I've increased the chapter word count to around 7,000 to 8,000 words, instead of the prior 6,000. So, I think that's about it… Read on!**

_Her feet carry her through the forest, breaking twigs in their pressure and haste. Her breath is labored, coming out in shaky pants. The right side of her face is soaked with tears that she is unable to stop. She falters for only a moment, when a low tree branch catches and tears the fabric of her apron. And then her efforts are renewed._

_He will catch her, if she isn't fast enough. She has to hurry._

_Why can't she be strong and quick, like the rest of her companions? Why does she always have to be so... useless?_

_She stumbles, cries out, catching herself on the base of a tree and then pushing off, her cry having slipped into sobbing. She knows he might hear her, but she can't hold it in anymore._

_For a moment, she can hear her Darling yelling for her to run, to get away... And she had listened to him, but she shouldn't have. She should have stayed by his side... Why didn't she stay with him?..._

_She screams as her foot slips between the ground and a thick tree root, sending her sprawling; a few smaller roots cut her during the landing. She whimpers, her hands clenching into fists. He will surely catch her now._

_As if her thoughts have been heard, she hears a growl from behind her. Her head turns around, almost against her will, and she goes silent with fear._

_The dark energy formed in the palm of the Shadow's red, clawed hand. Nene's face betrayed no remorse, and in his eyes, there might have even been a glimmer of delight._

* * *

Bouquet woke up gasping, head pounding, feeling grateful that she hadn't screamed awake, hoping that she hadn't made any loud noises while she was asleep.

She swung her feet over the side of the bed, palm pressed against her forehead. She still felt the fear, swimming around in her stomach, making her heart beat like a drum. That day... The day Nene took everyone but her and Marumaro... It hadn't happened the way it had in the dream, but it didn't make her feel any less afraid.

She brought her knees up to her chest, feet planted firmly on the sheet-covered mattress. There was one thing that had been real in the dream, burned into her mind's eye - Shu, yelling at her to run away. The thing that hadn't been in the dream was that when she hadn't complied, he'd shouted at Marumaro to get her to safety (and then, of course, the dream hadn't brought up when she'd kicked and screamed, either).

But, if Shu had done that... If he had tried to make sure she was safe... He had to feel something for her, had to care at least a little. And though a small consolation, she held onto it as tightly as she could.

* * *

**準備 ****(****じゅんび****)/Junbi (Preparations)**

* * *

"Come on, lazy," Kluke got a firm grip on his forearms, then yanked Shu into a sitting position, even as his head lolled back in his half-asleep state. "You've gotta get up."

Shu's eyes were still closed, and his voice was slow and sleep-slurred. "No one should be as awake as you are right now; not when it's this early," he moaned. "It's inhuman."

"Not more inhuman than your appetite or your tendency to sleep in," was Kluke's wry answer. "Now, up."

Letting out another, and if even possible, _more_ miserable moan, Shu was too tired to resist her tugging, and soon stood on his feet, albeit almost falling over just about every second.

About twenty seconds later, Kluke let out a frustrated groan when Shu fell into her for the seventh time. "Would you wake up already?"

"I don't know why you bother, Kluke," Jiro muttered as he walked past, stacks of paper, a quill and an ink bottle in his hands. "He's impossible in the morning."

Kluke sighed, closing her eyes as Shu slumped against her shoulder and snored. "Don't I know it."

* * *

Shu looked around the main room curiously. "Where's Bouquet?"

"Still in our room," Kluke answered. "She said she'd be here in a few minutes. I don't know why, but she's been really quiet today. Also - and this is even weirder - I think she might've woken up earlier than any of us." For Bouquet's sake, she said nothing else; Kluke knew something was wrong, but had no idea what it could be.

Shu's eyebrows furrowed. _Maybe I'll talk to her later..._

Now that he was closer, Shu saw Kaede laying out some papers on the table. Further examination revealed them to be the Extra Seven.

Jiro looked up from the pages when Shu and Kluke were near. "What happened to Bouquet?"

As Kluke told him the same thing, Shu noticed again that Kaede had laid out more paper. These, however, appeared to be nothing more than blank sheets. He had no idea what she planned to use them for. A list, maybe?

One of the doors creaked open. Bouquet stepped out and quietly closed it behind her. It seemed like she had to force the smile she wore. "Morning, everyone."

Shu started towards her. "Bouquet-"

"Good," Jiro nodded. "Everyone's here, then. There are a few things we should talk about."

* * *

The doors to the throne room opened. Szabo floated through. He bowed to Grand Kingdom's king, arm over his chest. "Nene-sama."

"How did things proceed with the cargo transfer?"

"The cargo! The cargo!"

"There was some..." Szabo chose the next word carefully. "... resistance. But other than that, it was fairly successful. The cargo's security has been maintained."

"Excellent." Nene's smirk broadened.

"Excellent! Excellent!"

* * *

"_Translate_ it?" Shu looked at Jiro incredulously. "How are we supposed to _translate_ it?"

"I know some of the ancient language," Kaede spoke up quietly. "Not all of it, obviously, but enough to translate this. That's probably part of the reason I was there; I already knew a little before Mafe's destruction, so all Nene had to do was teach me some more." She looked down at her hands, folded on the table. "I probably would've started the translation process fairly soon... But that's before all of you came. Before I found out the truth about Nene." With the last sentence, she couldn't keep the bitterness from leaking into her voice. Even after everything, the betrayal still stung her.

"Even so..." Shu's shoulders slumped. They were serious, weren't they? "I don't know about this. It seems really complicated."

Marumaro put both index fingers to the sides of his potted head. "I looked at it while you were still asleep, Shu, and my brain is still hurting, maro."

"She's already translated most of the first sentence of the first chapter," Jiro looked at him with lidded eyes. "Even if it's too much for you two to take in, Kaede has it under control."

"Of course, maro!" Despite the glare that Shu sent to Jiro, Marumaro was still upbeat. "If Kaede-chan is handling it, everything will be perfect, maro!"

Well, even if Marumaro couldn't see a comment for what it was, Shu certainly could. (... Sometimes.) "You shouldn't be so cheerful after we've just been insulted, Marumaro." He turned to Jiro, folding his arms. "And since you're so much _smarter_ than us, what exactly are _you_ going to be doing?"

Jiro blinked at him a few times. Then he cleared his throat, and a moment later, shuffled his feet. When the words finally came, he spoke tightly, yet slowly as if he were searching for the words. "... Observing the translation and waiting for requests of assistance."

"... So, basically," Shu stepped towards him until he was right next to Jiro, "you're not doing anything."

"Hmph." Jiro only looked forward, refusing to meet Shu's eyes.

Marumaro had somehow gotten to Jiro's other side. "So, I guess that means the three of us are all in the same boat, right, maro?" Tilting his head back so Jiro couldn't see him, the Devee boy waggled his eyebrows to Shu, who immediately caught on to what he was up to.

_Two can play at this game, Jiro._ His rival already had his eyes closed, and his eyebrow twitched; clearly annoyed, and thus clearly a success. "Yeah, I think that's what it means, Marumaro. So... That would kind of make us comrades in doing nothing, huh?"

"One, I am _not_ doing nothing," Jiro had rather suddenly opened his eyes, and was now just as suddenly stabbing a finger into Shu's chest. "And two, don't you _dare_ compare me to you two idiots."

"Lighten up and stop worrying, maro!" Marumaro patted Jiro on the back, which immediately made him stiffen, his face taking on an expression of shocked fury.

"Marumaro's right." Shu threw an arm around Jiro's shoulders, in what would be a good-natured way, if not for the sly grin he was wearing. "It's nothing to be ashamed of, Jiro-_kun_."

The honorific brought about a fight that had plenty of screaming, shaking, jabbing of elbows, Kaede laying protectively on the table to defend the Extra Seven, and someone twice kicking Marumaro in the head - which lasted for around twenty-five minutes.

* * *

"Alright," Kluke took a steadying breath. "Now that we've gotten that out of our systems, can we _please_ get back to what's more important?"

Shu, Marumaro, and Jiro sullenly looked at each other, then back at Kluke with a reluctant nod.

"Good. I'm going to be helping Kaede with the translation, as well as helping to copy down the translated text. Shu, you're going to go shopping for a new mechat part; I'll give it to you before you go." As he promptly squawked at it being "unfair", Kluke glanced at Bouquet. She remembered seeing the other girl this morning, looking so small and sad as she sat on her bed with knees drawn up. "...And Bouquet will come with you, to pick up some food, for dinner and for the road."

Bouquet's head shot up, her eyes brimming with surprise. And gratitude.

"Jiro and Marumaro, you'll be assisting Kaede and I when we need it."

Marumaro let out an ecstatic "maro". Jiro glared at him.

"Everybody got it?" There were collective nods and voiced agreements, so Kluke ended with, "Okay; we have a lot to do, so let's get to it."

* * *

"I can't believe Kluke," Shu grumbled, kicking a stone and sending it flying. "I mean, what do I know about mechats? And yet she gives _me_ the job of getting a part for one."

"Don't worry." Though small, Bouquet managed a smile. "You have it with you, right?" Shu nodded slowly, giving his short pocket a single pat. "So it'll work out."

"Thanks, Bouquet. And... thanks for bandaging me up, too." Shu, half-unconsciously, grabbed the white dressing on his forearm, where Kluke had inadvertently scratched him (apologizing profusely afterwards, which Shu had found a little surreal, since she regularly hit him with a frying pan and always had no remorse) when she'd been trying to punch Marumaro during the earlier tussle.

"Oh... You're welcome." Bouquet blushed, pretending to busy herself with examining the shopping list. Somehow, Kluke had seen that Bouquet had been feeling down today, and had been kind enough to give her some time with Shu. It had surprised Bouquet - the two fought over Shu regularly, and rarely got along because of it, so for Kluke to be so nice to her... _I have to make it up to her somehow._ "So... We're going to the blacksmith's first, right?"

"Yeah." Shu's eyes clouded. Just as Bouquet was trying to decipher what it could mean, the moment passed. "We'll get the groceries afterward. It'll keep the food from spoiling."

Bouquet stopped walking suddenly, pointing ahead. "Hey, what's going on over there?" A crowd of people had gathered, murmuring amongst themselves.

"I don't know. Let's check it out!" Shu broke into a jog.

"Wait a minute! Darling!" Bouquet hurried after him, the shopping basket rocking back and forth on her arm, bouncing against her side.

The people consisted mostly of adults, which meant that neither Bouquet nor Shu could see anything. However, their smaller size allowed them to navigate the throng and push forward to the front, just in time to view the scene unfolding in front of them.

"And we'll just be taking this as well..." A man, smirking, loaded metal objects into a bag.

A girl, a few years older than Shu and Bouquet, hurdled herself at him. "Stop it-!"

"Get back!" A woman shoved her, sending the girl sprawling to the ground. "This is ours now."

A second man, presumably with the other man and woman, sneered down at the girl. "Maybe next time you'll keep an eye on your brother. Make sure he doesn't steal from the wrong people."

The second man moved, and Bouquet went rigid as she saw a Mecha Robo. _Are these people with Grand Kingdom?_ They didn't look like it - they didn't wear any of the armor that Grand Kingdom's army wore. The thought crossed her mind that they could be with Rogi, but something told her that wasn't the case. She glanced at Shu; his jaw was clenched tight.

The first man tossed in one last object, then shouldered the bag. "Thank you for doing business with us. We'll be sure to come by again soon." He laughed boisterously.

As the other two turned, Bouquet spotted a second Mecha Robo. The three of them, with a robot on each side of them, walked away.

The girl watched them go. When they were out of sight, she swore and pounded the ground with her fist. A few people from the crowd came and crouched down next to her, asking if she was alright. Her reply, though in the affirmative, came out muted.

Bouquet turned towards her fiancé. "Shu-"

"We have to do something." He stared at the ground. His hands were clenched fists at his sides. "I know we're not supposed to draw attention to ourselves, but we have to do something. We can't just stand by and let things like this happen."

Bouquet nodded. "Whatever you want to do, I'm with you."

Something tugged at Bouquet's apron ties, and it made her look down. A little boy held onto them, and had Shu's sash in his other hand. His gaze was fixed on them intently. "I know you two. You guys are Shadow Users."

Shu laughed nervously, hands behind his head. "I-I don't know what you're talking about..."

"I saw both of you on a Grand Kingdom wanted poster. I won't turn you in, I promise-"

"Keep your voice down, kid. The last thing we need is trouble with Grand Kingdom." Shu had brought his face mere inches from the young boy's. He glanced back and forth, seeing if anyone had heard. The crowd was still concerned with the girl's welfare, though, and hadn't noticed the children talking. "Okay, _maybe_ we _might_ be Shadow Users. What of it?"

"I read what the poster said. You and your friends are really powerful, especially you and your Shadow, Rusty Nail."

"_Blue Dragon_." Bouquet swore that she could steam coming out of Shu's ears as he glared down at the younger child. "My Shadow's name is _Blue Dragon_. Rusty Nail is the name of our attack."

"Oh. Sorry." The apology was quick and brief. Shu continued to glare at him, but this went unnoticed by the boy. "But if your Shadows are really strong, then that means you can stop those thieves that took my sister's stuff."

"You mean the girl behind us?" Bouquet pointed to her. When she looked back, the boy nodded.

"Well," Shu folded his arms. "We _were_ going to try and help anyway..."

"That's great!" He raised a fist to the air. "We'll all stop those guys!"

"Hold on a second," Shu stood akimbo. "What's with this 'we'? Bouquet and I are going, but I don't know about you. It's too dangerous."

"Well, of course it would be too dangerous for me like _this_." The little boy grinned up at Shu. "That's why you're going to make me your apprentice!"

When Shu jumped back in alarm, the comical expression he was wearing would have made Bouquet laugh - if not for the absolute certainty she felt that this was the start of nothing but trouble. "My _what_?"

Tonto only stared up at him, undeterred. "Your apprentice."

"Now, just hold on a second!" Shu flailed his arms. "You- you can't be serious! I can't- I don't know how- you don't even have any way to _defend_ yourself."

"Look, it's not that hard." The boy was standing his ground, determined. "All I want is to get strong and teach those thieves a lesson. They're _always_ tormenting us, and I want to put an end to it. All _you_ have to do is help me get strong."

"It's not that easy." Shu scratched the back of his head. "Trust me, it's not."

"Shu..." Bouquet leaned over and whispered in his ear. When she was done, he nodded at her.

"Alright. Here's how this is going to go." Shu pointed at him. "You can come with us while we get back your sister's stuff. If I have to fight them, you make sure that you watch me, because that's going to be the way I'll show you how to get strong. I don't have time for an apprentice, but I can get you started on the right track before I have to leave the village."

The boy didn't look all that happy, but he didn't oppose the idea, either. "Fine."

"Good." Shu turned to the direction the thieves had gone. "Now, I know they went in this direction, but do you know exactly where they went to-?"

"Tonto!" The boy's sister stomped towards them. "What do you think you're doing?"

He was undaunted. "Neechan, it's great!" Gesturing at Shu, he added, "He's going to make me his apprentice-!"

"-I already told you I don't have time for an apprentice-!" But Tonto was already talking over him.

"-and the best part is, they're going to get your stuff back!"

With Tonto's noisy chatter vacant, the sudden silence was long and uncomfortable. Shu and Bouquet glanced at each other, both of them unsure about all of it.

Finally, Tonto's sister spoke. "... Get in the house. Now."

Hurt flickered across the young boy's features. "But, Neechan-"

"_Now_, I said." Her arm was stiffly outstretched towards the entrance.

With heavy feet, Tonto trudged to the house, shutting the door behind him.

"You two." Both Shu and Bouquet jerked when the attention was directed at them. "You're two of the Shadow Users that Grand Kingdom is searching for, right?"

_At this rate, we'll have to leave town before sundown._ Shu swallowed hard. "Yeah, that's right."

"... Come inside. I'd like to talk to you."

* * *

When they entered the interior of the house that Tonto and his sister shared, Shu froze as he took it in.

The anvil. Homesickness, a burden forced onto him that was so very heavy. _Tonto's sister is the village blacksmith._ He should have known. Hadn't he seen all of those metal objects the thieves took?

... Was it that easy for him to forget?

"Sorry that it's a mess. I was in the middle of working when those people... Anyway." Tonto's sister straightened, striding towards a table and chairs. "Come and sit over here."

Once they were all seated, Bouquet spoke up first. "So... What did you want to talk to us about?"

The older girl looked away. "... Stay away from my brother."

"What?" Shu was taken aback. He could tell she didn't particularly like them, but for her to be so direct was like being blasted by bracing cold wind. "Why?"

She looked at them with narrow, sharp eyes. "Because Shadow Users have been nothing but trouble for our village. It's because of Shadow Users that our village was attacked five years ago." The penetrating gaze softened with sadness. "And it's because of Shadow Users, and that very same attack by Grand Kingdom, that our parents are dead."

Shu dropped his head, staring at the table as his hands tightened into fists on his thighs. _Because of Shadow Users..._ Just like Talta had been attacked. Because of _him_. The guilt was almost unbearable. _I have to try harder._

Tonto's sister sighed. "Look... If you're planning to get back my goods, I'm certainly not going to stop you. I'd be happy you did. But afterwards, I would really appreciate it if you and your friends would leave and go as far away from here as you can." When she twisted her head to the side, Shu could see the glimmer of tears in her eyes.

"Amalia! Amalia, are you there?" There was a loud, insistent banging on the front door. With a sigh, Tonto's sister stood and, after crossing the short distance, opened it. A fairly plump woman entered, near breathless. "Amalia, it's Tonto-"

"Little rascal must've snuck out again..." Tonto's sister muttered, mostly to herself. "Well, what did he steal this time? Was it your apples? Maybe more potatoes? Or did he try tomatoes again?"

The woman shook her head. "Amalia, he... The thieves have taken him hostage."

Tonto's sister, Amalia, went utterly silent as all color drained from her face.

"Bouquet," Shu stood up. "Come on. Let's go."

* * *

_**End of Part One**_

_***eyecatch of Bouquet and Hippopotamus***_

_**Beginning of Part Two**_

* * *

_Ow._ Stupid forest. Stupid thieves. Stupid twigs, embedding themselves in the middle of her bare feet.

She finally made it to the clearing, where her Darling was still pointedly facing away from the direction she'd gone. Bouquet had to hold in a giggle. _So shy!_ Or was he perhaps just playing hard to get...? "I'm back, Shu."

"Are you dressed yet?"

"Not yet." Used to turning invisible after years of practice, Bouquet was always quick about getting her clothes back on. Once she was done, she made herself visible again; as the pink smoke dissipated in the air, she tossed one of her pigtails. "Alright, you can turn around now."

Shu was hesitant as he tilted his head, as if he suspected her of not being honest and for her to still be undressed. When he spotted her from the corner of his eye, though, he made a quick pivot. "So, what does it look like?"

"It's only those three from earlier, along with the two Mecha Robos. They have Tonto tied up and sitting on the ground. There are metal boxes pilled at the mouth of a cave; I think they're using it as a barrier, but I couldn't tell you what it's for." Bouquet paused, thinking, then spoke. "We should be careful, but I think we can take them. They don't seem very strong."

"Good." Shu grinned. "Let's hurry, then, so we don't keep the others waiting."

* * *

She gripped the wrench tightly. Following them was probably a bad idea, but Amalia couldn't help it.

Those thieves... They'd taken _Tonto_. They'd taken her _baby brother_. The only family she had left. How was she supposed to just idly sit, waiting for two ten-year-old Shadow Users to bring him home?

_Shadow Users..._ No, she wouldn't depend on _them_. Not for anything. Nothing important, anyway. They could get back her metal workings if they felt so obliged, but Tonto was her responsibility and no one else's.

No one else's anymore. Those two men (_two Shadow Users, two monsters_) from five years ago had seen to that.

She still remembered that final night. A pat on the head, a warm smile. _Look after your brother. We'll be back soon._

But they never had come back. The chance to fulfill that promise had been taken away from them.

She jumped as she heard the sound of an explosion. A great cloud of smoke wafted in the air, near the territory of the thieves. Her pulse hiked. _Tonto!_ She ran as fast as her feet could carry her.

* * *

How could things have gone so wrong?

They had underestimated the thieves and overestimated their own power. Bouquet had been taken down quickly; she was still clutching her arm tightly, in a worrying way that made Shu's stomach twist whenever he had a second to glance her way.

They should have gone to the others instead of facing these guys by themselves, but... Shu guessed he'd just wanted to prove - to himself, more than anyone else - that he was strong enough. That the next time they found Zola, the next time they faced Nene, he would be ready. He would not falter. He would not fail.

So much for that.

"What's wrong, kid?" The taller of the two men taunted him. "Starting to feel tired? Or just realizing that you're in over your head?"

"Hey, Shu!" Blue Dragon snapped at him. "Get up already! Don't let him talk about us like that!"

"You're right." Shu got to his feet, grounding his teeth together. If he couldn't get past this, how was he supposed to face the stronger challenges that were still to come? No - he wouldn't lose to this bunch of thieving creeps! "Let's do it, Blue Dragon!"

They set off a Fire Crisis. The thief dodged it by a hair, but was thrown into his companion; both of them were knocked unconscious. As an added plus, the Mecha Robo was destroyed. Shu let out a victorious holler, only in time to remember the other robot a second too late.

But a well-placed rock threw off the Robo's aim, its ammunition just missing Shu. His eyes darted to the side, where the rock had come from. _Tonto...!_ He'd forgotten that Bouquet had gotten the chance to untie him, before she got hurt. Stupidly, Shu had thought he would run. _But he still thinks he's my apprentice... Crazy idiot!_

Shu started dashing towards Tonto, but not before the woman had the younger boy by the collar of his shirt. "Still interfering, are you? Maybe we ought to deal with you once and for all..."

An image passed through his mind's eye. Grand Kingdom soldiers, grabbing his friends. Taichi afraid. Hibiki sobbing. The look of defeat on Tsubasa's face. And Kluke, crying out for help.

No. Never again would anyone suffer from his hesitation, his inadequacy. His weakness, that still lingers (it had to still be there, he thought, because he kept failing time and time again).

Anything else the thief might've said was lost as Shu slammed into her, shoulder first - which made said shoulder give an agonizing ache (it had been hit earlier, and that hadn't helped), the now-throbbing ache doubling in feeling when he landed on his side. _Bad idea. Very, very bad idea._ He blinked through the fog of pain, trying to get his bearings-

Shu yelped when someone tugged hard on his injured arm, dragging him roughly to his feet. It was the woman, and she was not happy. "You've gotten in our way long enough." She pulled her arm back, and Shu braced himself for whatever would be next-

It never came. There was a thud, and the thief's eyes widened, before shutting as she let go of Shu and fell unconscious. He staggered, nearly dragged down by her slackened grip, but managed to stay upright on weak legs. When he looked up, he saw Tonto's sister standing there, a wrench in her hand. It took him off guard when he saw concern in her eyes. "Are you okay?"

_Doesn't she hate us...?_ The thought was jumbled and distant, which probably should have clued him in that something was off. But it wasn't until he stepped forward while trying to answer, and everything started to suddenly blur, that Shu realized he was about to pass out.

* * *

Shu scrunched his eyes as he woke, before opening them to light right in his face. Once his vision had adjusted, he saw the source of the brightness - a window showing that the sky was clear and blue, the sun high and shining. _Late afternoon, then._

For a moment, he thought he might be home - the same smell and warmth wafted through the room, just like when Grandpa was metalworking in the early morning... But his memory came back to him, and he knew it couldn't be true.

Quite suddenly, his field of vision was obscured by a pair of purple eyes that shone with surprise, happiness, and something else he couldn't identify. "Darling!"

"Bouquet..." He spoke her name softly, almost unbelieving. _But, why? I knew that she'd be there... didn't I?_ Quickly discarding the thought as unimportant, Shu started sitting up, wincing a little as he lifted himself on his elbows. He could see that Bouquet sat in a chair at his bedside, and in another chair was Tonto's sister (which, reasonably, surprised him).

"Thank goodness you're awake! I... I was so..." Bouquet didn't even finish, only tightly clenched the sheet covering him. She couldn't say it. They'd faced worse, but... He... He had just been so _still_... Bouquet shook off those thoughts, though; she wouldn't let her Darling see her so down. "I'll go tell Tonto!" She hopped to her feet, running out of the room.

Tonto's sister was looking in the direction Bouquet had gone. "How are you feeling?"

"Alright, I guess." Shu was about to ask what had happened while he'd been out, but Amalia began speaking again.

"So... Your fiancée."

"Not really." Shu couldn't fight a light tinge that overtook his face. At Amalia's sudden glance and raised eyebrow, he amended, "Well... Maybe. It's a long story."

"I see." She pulled something out of her pocket, and Shu saw with a start that it was the same kind of mechat part Kluke had given him. This one was made of black metal instead of grayish-brown, though, and looked shinier. Unlike the other one, it also had no dents to speak of. "Bouquet gave me the original. This is for you... as thanks for saving my brother."

Shu felt an inexplicable lump in his throat. "Thank you." He let her drop it into his hand.

"Also," she continued," I'd... like to apologize, for my behavior. Even if you hadn't saved my brother, it was wrong of me to act in such a way." She stared at her lap. "It's just... I feel so angry at the men who killed my parents. I miss my mom and dad terribly. But I should have remembered that not all Shadow Users are the same." Amalia lifted her head, smiling at him. "I won't make that mistake again."

There was a loud bang as the door shoved open and hit the opposite wall. Out stepped Tonto... wearing a red cape. And a pot on his head. And he wielded an awfully crooked stick. Behind Tonto stood Bouquet, looking embarrassed for the young boy.

Amalia's face was a strange mixture of horror, weariness and acceptance, with her voice matching. "... I don't really want to know what this is about, do I?"

Bouquet shook her head. "No, you don't."

"Master, look!" Tonto rushed forward. Shu winced at the new name. "You've set me on the right path, and now I'm going to become strong just like you!"

Shu dropped his head into his hands. "If anyone asks why you have a pot on your head, please don't say that I'm responsible for it."

"Tonto!" Amalia stood up, furious. "Take off that get-up this instant!"

"Nuh uh, Sis!" Tonto put his fists on his hips. "I'm going to defend the village, and this is my defending outfit!" He took up what supposedly passed as a heroic pose. "Thieves and bad people all over will never come near our village again when they hear of the powerful Tonto, diligently trained under the mighty Shu-sama and his Shadow Rusty Nail!"

"_Blue Dragon_!" Shu almost shrieked it.

"You're not doing anything of the sort!" Amalia rushed at him, and Tonto darted away, laughing. "Tonto, get over here now! Behave yourself!"

"You should behave yourself first, Sis!" Tonto chortled, ducking under the table. He only gained a little speed, though - his sister had gone around it, but her legs were much longer. "Being all grumpy and grouchy like that, you'll never get a husband."

That, apparently, was a nerve. "I'LL KILL YOU!"

The two quickly delved into a very loud, very sibling-like shouting match - which, for those watching, was equal parts endearing and terrifying - all the while darting around the room, moving over, under, and around various household objects as necessary. Shu was just very grateful that they hadn't yet jumped over the bed; the last thing he wanted was to get in between the two of them.

He nearly jumped when Bouquet perched on the bed next to him. She scooted close, wrapping her arms around one of his, sighing as she laid her head on his shoulder. "Well... It's not a honeymoon, but at least we have some time together, right?"

Shu could only groan, and hope that he would escape from this situation unharmed by any of those involved, and perhaps even with his dignity intact.

Rethinking it... He couldn't be sure, but the latter was maybe too much to hope for.

* * *

Things had been going fairly well at the inn. All was quiet and peaceful, at least, so they considered that well enough.

So it took everyone by surprise when the door swung open, and Shu came in and collapsed face down on the couch with an exhausted yet muffled noise. Bouquet came in behind him, shutting the door with her hip (Marumaro watched this movement intently), one arm clutching the shopping basket and the other precariously holding onto a paper bag, both brimming with groceries.

Worried, Kluke dropped her pen and dashed over to Shu. She knelt at the foot of the couch, placing a hand on his back as she tried to see his face. "Shu? Are you okay?"

Her only answer was (albeit dampened by the couch pillow) a sound between a groan and a wail.

"We had a long day." Bouquet set the groceries on the table not covered by the Extra Seven and its translations. "I'll explain it while we put the food away. Kluke, can you help me?"

As Kluke began stuffing things into their packs - only what was to be used for dinner would actually go on the shelves - Bouquet explained everything that had taken place with Tonto and his sister.

At the end of Bouquet's explanation, Kluke glanced at Shu, who had finally removed his face from the pillow - but only because he had fallen asleep. "You should have gotten us."

"But we did it, though." Bouquet beamed, looking at Shu also. "Just Darling and me." Her eyes and her voice held so much pride, then. There was very little of the romantic lilt that usually filled her voice when she spoke of both herself and Shu. She was happy and proud, because they had saved someone all on their own. They had shown that they could do something, too.

Kluke realized, then, with startling clarity, how it must be for Bouquet. Before getting Phoenix, she had once been the weakest, the one everyone protected. The helpless one. The one that considered themselves useless. But now that she had her Phoenix, that unwanted role had fallen to Bouquet.

And Kluke knew how agonizing it was. How sometimes you'd wish you weren't even a part of the team. How much it made you despair.

In addition to Bouquet, there was Shu. He would bluster and brag all the time, and was even perhaps the strongest of them, but out of everyone he was the most insecure about his Shadow by a mile. Kluke knew he felt weak, and that he worried he was a liability. Zola's capture had only made all of that intensify. Whenever she thought of it, Kluke kept seeing him on that cliff back in Talta, looking so small and young, so sad and lost.

Kluke lifted her head and smiled at Bouquet. "You both did well. Really well."

* * *

It was late at night now. The full moon bathed the inn room in its light, the shadows making everything slightly blue. Kaede would be observing it happily as she enjoyed the quiet, if she weren't so tired.

As soon as Shu had awoken, they had all dove headfirst into the translation of the Extra Seven, only stopping to eat dinner before going back at it again. They had all fallen asleep in various spots of the room - only Marumaro had made it to his bed. Kaede had never even dozed; she had been going all this time, and she didn't intend to stop.

She did, however, need a break. So she had made her way to the tiny wooden balcony.

Kaede's mind wandered as she leaned on the railing. So much had happened these past few days. She had been betrayed. She had learned her brother was still alive. She had begun traveling with these strangers turned friends, who had quickly closed in around her - becoming the armor that protected and the blanket that comforted. Like... Like a family.

So much lost, yet so much gained.

"Maro?" She whirled around, coming face to face with Marumaro. "Why are you still awake, maro?"

Kaede relaxed. "I have to keep translating. We have to figure out the mystery of the Extra Seven, and we won't be able to do that until the pages are translated." What she didn't mention was her doubt; as she began to steadily understand more and more of the text, it slowly became clear that she had no idea how it would help them. Nene had hinted that each Warrior of Light knew things about their page that no one else knew, but would that really help them in the long run?

Marumaro nodded slowly. "That's true, but you need your rest, maro."

She rubbed her arms, feeling warmed by his concern. "I will, eventually." Kaede could tell that Marumaro wanted to protest, so she quickly changed the subject. "It's a beautiful night, at least."

He gave a little nod. "Maro..." Marumaro glanced at her shyly, and the words were out of his mouth before he gave it a second thought. "... I really admire you, maro."

Her eyes darted to his, incredibly shocked. "You... You admire me?"

Marumaro considered backpedaling, but decided against it. Another nod. "Y-you have a lot of courage, maro." Why was he stuttering? Why did he feel so nervous? "And a lot of kindness, too, maro." He took a deep breath. "Kaede-chan, you're... a really great person, maro."

She knew her face was probably flaming by now. "I... Maro-kun... I don't really know what to say..." She faced towards the moon. After a moment's pause, she said, "Thank you."

Marumaro smiled at her, content just to watch her as she watched the moon. He wondered why he was acting so strangely, so different from his usual behavior, but found that he couldn't bring himself to care.

There was a girl standing right beside him, with no one around to stop him, and for maybe the first time in his life, Marumaro didn't feel the urge to lift her skirt or grope her breasts - and he still felt happy anyway.

* * *

When everyone woke up the next morning, they were surprised to see Marumaro and Kaede already awake. But they were even more surprised when the two of them handed out the fully translated pages of the Extra Seven.

"This is great. It's been completely translated into our current language." Shu grinned at Kaede and Marumaro.

Bouquet, still looking at the page she'd been given, furrowed her eyebrows. "It looks like a children's story."

"That's nothing, maro." Marumaro waved dismissively. "One is completely numbers, and another is just a single sentence with a picture."

Jiro lowered his page. "What does it mean, Kaede?"

She looked a little bashful. "Honestly, I'm not really sure. I know that these pages are the key to unlocking our powers, but I don't know how they're going to do that. Nene said," she swallowed hard, wishing that bottling up her anger could be as easy as that simple, everyday motion, "that each Shadow User would recognize something about their page. Now I usually wouldn't trust what he says, but he told me that before I turned on him. And if he wanted my help with the translation, I'm not sure he would lie about an important part of the process."

"What do we do, then?" The question had been directed at Kaede first, but then Kluke looked around at all of them. "The Extra Seven seems to be a puzzle, expertly crafted so that we would be the only ones that could figure out. But if we can't decipher what it means, then what?"

"Then we'll go to the ruins," Shu said. "Maybe the Extra Seven will lead us to something that's there."

"Sounds like a good idea, maro." Marumaro grinned at him.

"Where should we go first?" Bouquet asked.

"Mafe." Kaede spoke so quietly that they barely heard her.

Something akin to alarm (or perhaps panic was a more accurate word) darted across Jiro's face. "Kaede-"

"I want to go to Mafe." She said it louder, her voice gaining strength. "I... I have to know. I have to see... whatever's left..."

Jiro looked at her for a long moment, no discernable emotion crossing his features. Then, finally, he looked away.

Kluke walked up to Kaede. The two girls shared a small smile as Kluke offered her paper, even though they were both filled with apprehension. "Mafe it is, then."

* * *

_**End of Part Two**_

_***eyecatch of Shu and Blue Dragon***_

* * *

_**Chapter Preview**_

*cue scenes from next chapter in background*

Narrator: The Shu-tachi begin their journey to Mafe, but encounter problems when they must leave the mechat behind due to a narrow canyon.

Marumaro: Hey, what's the funny little creature, maro?

Kluke: I know what that is! It's a Kelolon!

Jiro: Wh-what?

Shu: Hey, Kluke, you have a Kelolon charm on your backpack, don't you?

Kaede: How cute! I want to see!

Jiro: How could you think something so slimy is cute…?

Narrator: Next chapter of Blue Dragon: Maple Leaf – Kelolon Troubles.

**Chapter 4 done! :D Also, this ends the first block of "episodes", so to speak, since most of the Blue Dragon DVDs had four episodes per disc (in Japan, at least). I was actually very happy with this chapter, which surprised me (it's an improvement over last time, anyway, I think). There were things that probably should have been touched on, such as Shu's melancholy from Zola being taken again, but I figured that the Shu-tachi needed a break; they've been having it a little rough lately, so a more cheerful plot seemed to be an order, in addition to the positive outlook brought on by the translation of the Extra Seven. Anyway… As you've probably noticed, there are changes here to the general framework of Episodes 27 and 32, the two episodes that I sort of meshed together to make this chapter. The scene where Shu and Marumaro teased Jiro was slightly different, which was mostly because I couldn't remember it exactly; Bouquet accompanied Shu to get the mechat part, because I thought it was a bit unfair that they sent him by himself; the Episode 32 plotline of this chapter was compacted and shortened, simply because there wasn't the room (I also gave Tonto's sister the name of Amalia, which I hope no one minds, simply because I didn't want to call her "Tonto's sister" for the entire thing; she's also not as harsh as she was in the original series); the Shu-tachi won't be going to get the mechat, since they already have it, which helped to shorten the Episode 27 plot; and though this is a bit of a spoiler, perhaps, they're going to Mafe first partly because Kaede has unwittingly mistranslated the numbers of the chapters, and thinks that her page is the first (I'm saying this now, because as far as I know, this won't be addressed in the story since they'll never know there was another way). Also of note: the next two episode chapters were the first two formulated as well as the first two to have pieces of them written (additionally, there were about three prototype chapters, but most of those have been discarded because they had bad plotlines and were badly written, though some themes from them were kept and lines recycled into upcoming chapters), and are always what comes to mind when I think of _Maple Leaf_; I'm really looking forward to writing them. And another note, though probably not as important – I found it incredibly funny when Tonto called Blue Dragon "Rusty Nail", and laughed both times I wrote it, especially the second time after Shu wakes up. Especially, especially the second time. I'm rambling, though. I'm so sorry – I promised shorter notes. I'll try to keep it from happening again.**

**So! If you can, please review and let me know what you think. :) Normally, I would put up the poll, but since I'm unsure of my internet at the moment, I'm going to wait. Once I am certain –whether I've be reconnected or was just never disconnected in the first place – I'll put it up, and updating can resume as normally. I may put up a few oneshots if I have any spare time, since there are several close to completion, but I may run out of time before I get the chance. Anyway… I'm unsure of when I'll be able to update next, but I'll try to do so whenever I can. So, hopefully I'll see you soon!**


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